


Synergetic

by TrappedInAPentagram



Series: Shades [2]
Category: jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Dark Sides, Emotional Manipulation, Fluff, LOTS of violence, M/M, No Smut, Septiplier - Freeform, Shades, but you know the drill, evil boyfriends are best boyfriends, in case that wasn't clear, kinda like demons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 00:04:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12331536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrappedInAPentagram/pseuds/TrappedInAPentagram
Summary: After finally getting a grasp on what it means to coexist with a Shade, Jack settles in (almost) comfortably to a life with Mark. But when rumors arise of a possible cure to separate from one's shade, Jack begins to question how comfortable he is after all.





	1. Chapter 1

Jack's eyes snapped open as he sat up abruptly. He was breathing fast, wiping a hand over his brow. _Fuck, tha's like the fifth one this week._

He glanced to his side when he felt Mark shifting tiredly to face him. "Another nightmare?" Mark asked. Jack nodded silently. Ever since the arrival of a recurring shadowy figure in Jack's dreams, he'd decided it was high time he tell Mark about it. However, Mark's shade, Dark, didn't have any leads, as Jack's description was so vague. Anti seemed to think it was a coincidence, brushing it off as 'good ole nightmare fuel'. 

Mark sat up with a yawn, setting a hand on Jack's back, "You're alright."

"Right now, sure," Jack said. "But this shit has happened so often it can hardly be coincidence. I feel like we're bein' watched."

Mark slid his hand under Jack's shirt, soothingly rubbing it across Jack's skin, "You're safe here. Even if some stalker is watching you. I mean, not that you particularly want to hear this, but it's not entirely unlikely, anyway."

"Great, thanks for the comfort," Jack grumbled. Ever since he'd started living with Mark, it was true he'd become a prime target. Anti was able to handle most threats, and when he couldn't, Dark had been there to save their asses on more than one embarrassing occasion. Dark's assumption was that their past interactions with Heathen had caused the emotion-manipulating shade to sell information on Mark and Jack's relationship. After all, with Dark's standing in the shade world, people would pay hefty prices to learn what sort of weaknesses he could possibly have. And unfortunately, Anti was one of those weaknesses.

Mark chuckled, "Sorry. Last thing you wanna hear. Want some hot chocolate or something?"

"Nah, I think I can take comfort in the arms of my big bad boyfriend," Jack forced a grin.

Mark snorted, "You're looking for Dark, then, certainly not me."

"I know what I'm about," Jack retorted, curling up to cuddle into Mark's chest. Mark smiled as he wrapped his arms around Jack, the latter turning his head to listen to Mark's heartbeat. Mark adjusted to comb his fingers through Jack's green hair, the pair falling silent. The only sound to break the silence was Chica kicking her legs in her sleep. 

After several minutes, when it became apparent Jack couldn't fall back asleep, he whispered, "Mark?" to check if the other man was still awake.

"Mm?" Mark hummed.

"Did...did you have a lot of nightmares when you first discovered Dark?" Jack asked, not sure if Mark's shade were paying enough attention to allow the conversation to drift in this direction. Mark tended to stray from discussing his initial relationship with his shade.

Mark shrugged, "Well, sure. Particularly with how...irregularly he'd show up. I was terrified for a long time."

"Irregularly?"

Mark frowned, "Yeah."

~~~

Mark fell heavily to the ground. The blow from the man looming over him had knocked his glasses from his head. As he scrambled to search for them, the mugger stepped on his hand, chuckling darkly to himself all the while. Mark hissed in a breath. This was it. He wasn't particularly strong as kids went, and he was backed into a corner against a man with a Shade. He'd die here; his parents might never find his body, depending how mangled this guy planned on leaving him. The blow to his cheek was already throbbing, the cuts in his arm from the claws on the ends of his assailant's fingers burning. He choked back tears of fear as he looked up at the man, his throat dry. If he were going to be killed like this, he wouldn't go down looking weak and pathetic. And with the sudden steeled nerves came a new determination. The chill of fear was replaced with the fire of hatred. Whatever was happening within him, it gave the mugger pause.

The man stepped back as Mark stood. Not sure as to why, the wounds he'd sustained suddenly felt almost nonexistent. The sting of the cuts was barely now more than tingling. Mark grit his teeth, and with a strength he didn't know he had, he seized his attacker by the throat. Some part of him realized he shouldn't have been tall enough to actually reach the man's neck, but he was too preoccupied to think too deeply into it. That's when his entire body felt like it was evaporating--he no longer felt solid, yet some part of him still managed to keep its grip on the neck of the mugger. Glancing to his arm, he realized why he was feeling so light. His arm was barely even there. It was in patches, spreading apart and rapidly putting itself back together like a glitch on a computer screen, complete with red and blue accents. He then noticed he wasn't looking up at the attacker anymore, he was eye-level to him. When the dawn of realization hit Mark, it was too late to have a fair reaction, and when he spoke, the voice was no longer his own.

"You will regret that decision," Dark said, his voice silken but deep, radiating power, the complete and utter opposite of Mark's high-pitched young male tone. It echoed and boomed and screeched all at the same time. Mark felt it was surreal, and it took the first blow of Dark's fist to the thief's face to snap him back to reality and make him realize he had no control. Like a passenger in his own mind, he watched Dark slam a fist into the man's stomach, followed by a quick blow of his knee to the man's crotch. As he bent over, Dark brought his elbow down on the man's shoulder, taking him down. But it didn't stop there. God, Mark wished it had.

Dark kicked the man's nose so hard it broke, and as he lay there in pain, Dark patted down the man's pockets. He retrieved his wallet, but proceeded to find a hidden pocketknife, the handle displaying a rather beautiful opal inlay. Dark studied it for a moment before jabbing it into the man's stomach. Then again. And again. Were Mark in control of his mouth, it'd be hanging open in repulsion. He'd just stabbed someone. 

And as quickly as Dark had come forth, he was gone. Mark practically jolted back into control of his body, hand suddenly shaking as he withdrew the knife, blade and hand stained red with blood. He was drawing in shaky breaths, tempted to believe what had just happened hadn't happened. That this was a dream, or more accurately, a nightmare. But it didn't end. He didn't wake up. So he ran. It wasn't until after he'd slammed the door shut behind him that he realized he was still holding the knife.

After the first occurrence, Dark stayed relatively quiet. Mark had since poured over any scrap of information he could glean about Shades. From what he could tell, he definitely had one, but it seemed...different, somehow. He could feel it lurking in the depths of his mind, but it didn't do much more than that. He didn't dare tell his parents for fear of them kicking him out of the house. He didn't tell anyone.

Five days later, on his way back from school, Mark got the distinct feeling he was being followed. Sure enough, he heard the scuffing of boots hitting the pavement behind him. Following his first instinct, he began walking faster, listening to the footsteps behind him also changing pace. But instead of sprinting, he found himself turning, ending up face to face with the man he'd stabbed days before, and this time, he'd brought company.

"Oh yeah, this is the brat," the man said.

"I-I...I don't..." Mark stammered, thinking for sure he'd left the man for dead.

"Seriously? This kid?" another of the men asked, ignoring Mark.

"I'm tellin' ya, it was like nothin' I'd ever seen," the original man replied. "He's got a strong one."

"Well then," the third man cracked his knuckles, "we oughta take it out."

Mark took a step back, all his instincts screaming at him to run, but once again, he felt the odd sensation of a fire burning deep within himself as he fell out of his own control. The three men found themselves trailing their eyes upward to the silhouette looming around Mark, the size of a full grown man in a suit with pitch black eyes staring back at them, flickering in and out of reality.

After that second occurrence, people really started to take note of him.

A couple weeks later, his teacher made the mistake of scolding Mark for not finishing his homework. Dark didn't take kindly to being told what to do.

Years later, when Mark was old enough to date, he took the risk of taking out a girl named Rose. Dark had sat idly by, until it became clear Mark was growing attached. Too attached. 

Mark moved out when it became clear his own parents were not excluded from the list of people Dark was willing to kill, leaving his dad bleeding and his mom sobbing behind him as he ran. 

He couldn't sleep for days.

~~~

"It was just kind of...erratic, you know? I thought I had a handle on him, but I really didn't. Still don't, not really," Mark shrugged. "But I've learned how to cope. You've helped immensely with that."

"I mean, that's kinda Anti's doin', as well. If he weren't here..."

"Oh, no, if you didn't have a Shade Dark would've probably killed you day one. Sorry."

"None taken, I guess."

Mark sighed, "At any rate, we should try to get some more sleep."

"Yeah, you're right," Jack said, shifting his foot in between Mark's ankles. 

"Night," Mark said before placing a gentle kiss on Jack's forehead.

"Night," Jack replied, not sure if he was going to be getting more sleep, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aww yeee i just saw some great youtube vids that made for great inspirations for this story, if you wanna check 'em out find the "Editing is everything" channel on youtube! i recommend watching "mark of the beast", "jack of all trades", and "untitled.exe" (in that order, unless you wanna watch jack's first which was personally my favorite) as they're technically a trilogy anyway :3

_Jack was face to face with Anti in a dark room. It looked like the one he shared with Mark, but more spacious. Anti smiled coldly at him, a knife gleaming in his hand. Jack took a step back, knowing all too well Anti's skill with that blade. He turned to run, the room immediately stretching into an impossibly long hallway. Jack ran anyway, feeling like his feet were skidding on ice, making no progress to escape the shade behind him. Sure enough, a moment later he felt the sharp blade cutting into his throat. He grasped at it, his fingers passing right through the knife. As he knelt, struggling to breathe, he looked up, spotting the strange figure from every other nightmare at the end of the hall. His eyes squinted as he tried to make out any details in the figure's face. He steeled his nerves and growled, refusing to die without a fight for once. His eyes glowed green and Anti phased through him in a blur, now under Jack's control. Anti made a beeline towards the figure, cackling maniacally. The figure held up a hand, causing Anti to almost instantly slow from a sprint to a halt, collapsing to his knees and keeling over, unconscious._

_Jack felt a knot of fear in his stomach and returned his gaze from Anti to the figure, blinking as his vision began to blur. The figure walked towards him, a masculine, soothing voice saying, "We will meet soon enough," before he held his hand up again. As Jack's vision failed entirely, the figure said, "I promise."_

Jack gasped in a breath as he came to. Chica was licking his hand, which was hanging over the edge of the bed. She whined in concern. Mark wasn't laying next to him. He must have drifted back to sleep and had yet another nightmare. Jack groaned and rubbed a hand over his face before scratching Chica's ear. Chica wagged her tail, clearly happy to have helped him. 

"Mornin', girl," Jack said, yawning as he sat up. _That was a weird one. He's never talked before. What do you think, Anti?_ Jack's mind was met with silence. _Anti?_ he asked. Still no response.

He frowned with worry. It wasn't like Anti to be quiet. He quickly stood and made his way downstairs, Chica trotting ahead of him. He grabbed a cup of coffee, a pot already brewed in preparation for breakfast. He made his way to Mark's office, figuring since Mark wasn't in the kitchen he was probably working. Jack stopped in front of the office door and knocked, as sometimes Dark didn't take kindly to being disturbed.

"Come in," Mark's voice replied. Jack sighed with relief that it wasn't Dark in control, entering the room. Mark looked up from a newspaper he was reading at his desk, saying, "Morning. You look kind of pale; you feeling alright?"

Jack shook his head, "Somethin' happened to Anti."

Mark set the paper down, asking, "What kind of something?" as Jack sat across from him.

"I don't know, I had another nightmare and he tried to attack the creepy guy that's been hauntin' me and-" Jack rambled.

"Slow down," Mark said, reaching a hand across the table to take Jack's. "One step at a time."

Jack took a deep breath and nodded. "In my dream, the guy was at the far end of a hall. Anti cut my throat from behind, and I managed to get control of him and tried to fight back. When Anti tried to rush at him, he just held up a hand and Anti fell over, and he hasn't spoken since."

Jack wasn't surprised when he saw Mark's expression harden, his eyes turning red as Dark took over. "Is he alive?" he asked with a clenched jaw.

"Well...yeah, I'm pretty sure he is. I think he was just knocked out."

Dark glared but nodded, "Any other developments?"

"Yeah, the creepy guy spoke to me this time."

Dark looked surprised by that but did a good job masking it. "What'd he say?"

"He promised we'd meet him soon."

"What exactly did he say?" Dark drilled.

"Uh..." Jack ran his hand back through his hair, "We will meet soon enough. I promise."

Dark frowned as he folded his hands on the desk. He shut his eyes, reaching for the newspaper and sliding it across the table without opening them. Jack glanced to the paper and back up to Dark, carefully grabbing it to see what article he'd been reading. On the page was an ad titled "Separate from Shades."

Jack blinked, looking back up at Dark, asking, "What is this?"

"Keep reading."

Jack obeyed, reading, "Are you plagued by the presence of a shade? Let us help you free yourself from the burden!" There was an address listed along with details regarding a process to remove one's shade. Jack looked up skeptically.

Dark nodded, "I thought so, as well: a well designed ruse. Targeted towards newly formed shades whose hosts don't know any better. Did you note the line at the bottom?" 

Jack returned his gaze to the paper, reading out loud, "We'll meet you soon." 

Dark stood, "I think whoever is behind this process is the same person who's haunting you. Meaning it's likely they want to meet you." 

"I'd gathered that, but...how could people fall for this? It's too good to be true." 

Dark narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean by that?" 

Jack realized his wording hadn't been particularly kind. "I just meant some people might feel that way." 

Dark didn't look even slightly convinced. "For people who are new to living with a shade, life can be difficult. Hosts with particularly violent shades are likely to jump at any chance they can get. Poor, naive bastards." 

"But...if it's true?" 

Dark shook his head, "It can't be. Shades and their hosts coexist. There's never been a recorded occurrence of a host separating completely from their shade. Even when you and Anti form separate bodies, for example, you're still technically tied to one another. It's a bond unlike anything else. Unbreakable." 

Jack drummed his fingers on the desk in thought. He bit his lip, silently wishing Dark was wrong. He snapped himself out of it, "But what if...what if whatever this guy did to me is how he treats other people with shades?" 

"Pardon?" 

"I can't tell if Anti's still...with me. What if this guy is a shade who can separate shades and hosts?" 

Dark studied him a moment before replying, "Then he's an extremely dangerous foe. For now, try to awaken Anti. It's as good a first step as any." 

Jack nodded slowly, shutting his eyes and relaxing. Trying to meditate while feeling Dark's eyes boring into him made the act a bit difficult. He concentrated, calling, _Anti?_ No response. Jack's face scrunched up as he focused. He tried to hone in on the feeling he usually got when Anti took over. When it didn't yield any results, he opened his eyes, starting to say, "I can't find-" before shutting up at the sight of a pistol pointed at his face. 

"Then we'll draw him out," Dark said. 

Sure enough, Jack gripped the barrel of the gun as his eyes turned purple. "Are you fuckin' crazy?!" Anti snapped, sounding tired. The grip he had on the gun weakened, Anti's hand becoming shaky as he let it go in exchange for holding his head. He leaned over the desk, feeling dizzy and light headed. 

"Some shades are woken when the host is in a particular type of danger," Dark said coolly, setting the gun down. "I'm glad you're here." 

"Yeah, barely," Anti muttered, setting his head on the desk and leaving his hands grasping his hair. 

"What happened?" 

"I have no idea," Anti replied. "I feel like shit." 

"What's wrong?" Dark asked, walking to stand beside him and setting a hand on his back. 

"I'm just...worn out." 

"Describe it." 

Anti groaned, "Light headed, dizzy. Like I'm hungover but also like I just ran a marathon." 

"Interesting." 

"Oh, yeah, sure, real interestin'," Anti grumbled. 

Dark returned to his own chair, sitting and saying, "Did you hear any of what I was discussing with Jack?" 

"What? No." 

Dark nodded, "We have a lead." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bear with me, the exciting stuff is coming!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up, things are getting spicy! and the sooner we get to the juicy stuff the better, right? ;3

Anti asked, "So you think they're specifically targetin' Jack?" He took a sip of coffee before continuing, "Why him?"

"Could be you," Dark said. "Could be any number of people with shades. It _could_ be sheer coincidence, but I highly doubt that."

"So when are we gonna go meet them?"

Dark took a deep breath, sighing, "Here we go," as he idly stirred his coffee.

"What?"

"Do you recall what happened the last time you took the bait for someone who wanted to meet you?" Dark asked.

Anti drummed his fingers against the side of his mug, glancing away. Dark knew very well it was an experience neither of them would forget. Anti could still hear Heathen's laughter. "Course I do. That's why I'd bring you along this time."

"You would, if we were going to go at all." Anti opened his mouth to retort, but Dark interrupted, "I agree this is a matter that needs looking in to, but we aren't going directly to the source completely blind. It'd be suicide. Even you can't deny that."

"I've been dyin' for another adventure, though," Anti whined.

Dark slammed a fist into the table, "Adventure? Is this a fucking game to you? You're lucky I didn't chain you up in the basement after the first stunt you pulled running from me."

Anti mumbled, "Didn't know you had a chain kink," though his heart wasn't in the joke.

Dark gave him a look, "We will only confront these people when we have more intel on them. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Anti took a sip.

Dark continued fixing Anti with his stare, "It had better be. Now. If you're so eager to do something," he tucked a finger under Anti's chin, tilting his head up, "I have a task for you, but only if you swear to be cautious about it."

Anti smiled, "Caution's my middle name."

"Right. See if you can find out who's printing these ads. Talk to publishers. See if you can't...convince them to let you know who is paying them to write these lies."

Anti giggled, "I think I can handle that."

"Good, because the most important part of this mission is for you to come home again."

Anti groaned, "God, you're such a romantic, y'know that?"

"Mark...suggested I try to be more forthright about my affection for you."

"Oh did he? You oughta let me thank him," Anti smirked.

"Not until you've come back with information."

Anti nodded and stood, hooking his arms around Dark's neck as Dark set his hands on Anti's hips, "You can count on me."

"I know I can," Dark said lowly against his ear, Anti biting his lip at the inflection. Dark kissed his cheek, "The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back to me."

"Aye. You bet your ass I'll be quick about it," Anti gave him a salute.

Dark chuckled, "I certainly hope so," as he watched Anti chug his coffee before he practically sprinted for the door.

~~~

Anti walked down the streets with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. He could have driven, but he enjoyed drinking in the reactions people had to seeing him; he'd made a lasting impression in their town. Those unfortunate enough to not have shades at their backs shied away from him. A few with shades nodded to him as he passed them by, though not a single one looked happy to see him. Anti wore a smug smile and ignored the majority of them anyway, taking his time. He was on his way to the heart of the town, where a publishing company kept its main headquarters.

He paused on his way down a street when a flier skidding along the ground caught his eye. He stooped to pick it up, giving it a quick shake to unfold it. It had interested him because he'd seen a flash of what looked like a shadowy, demonized figure attacking someone. Now that he was looking at the image properly, he realized he was partially correct. A shadowy, average-looking demon was standing behind a nondescript human, reaching its hands out towards them as the human cowered. The writing at the top said, _Seeking to escape your demons? We can help!_ Listed was the same address as the one on the newspaper ad.

Jack said, _They're really tryin' to spread the word._

_Can't blame 'em for bein' enthusiastic._

_What do you think it means?_ Jack asked. Now that they were away from Dark, he felt better about discussing the topic.

Anti shrugged, _I think it's as Dark said. They draw uneducated people in to suck their pockets dry, or maybe to root out stronger shades to kill 'em off before they become too powerful._

_Or maybe it's a recruiting scheme?_

_They'd piss off a lot of people who were plannin' on gettin' rid of their demons, don'cha think?_

_I guess,_ Jack said, his thoughts beginning to drift.

_Ya don't gotta be so ominous, Jackie. I know the news excited you._

_What?_ Jack asked a touch too quickly.

Anti turned into an alley to lean against a wall, bending one leg to set his foot against the bricks. _You had a glimpse of hope of gettin' rid of me._

 _I..._ Jack knew there was no use in lying, so he asked, _how'd you know? I thought you were unconscious when he was showed me the article._

 _Not entirely. I was...well, not tired. It was weird. After the guy from your nightmare worked his voodoo on me, I felt so...relaxed. Respondin' to you felt like it would take a monumental effort, and I didn't wanna ruin the effect. It was almost like I couldn't feel anythin'. But it was peaceful, y'know? Not havin' any worries or fears on your back. And then your jolt of excitement caught my attention. That flicker of hope,_ he shut his eyes. _I knew ya weren't fond of me, but that shit still kinda hurts, man._

Jack was uncertain how to respond. Anti had never sounded so vulnerable. He would've suspected it was an incredible show of acting, if their minds weren't connected so intrinsically. _I'm...I'm sorry._

Anti scoffed, _Don't give me your pity if you ain't even gonna mean it. Let's just get this show on the road._ He stepped off from the wall before Jack could retort and crossed the street, entering the doors of the publishing building. It wasn't exactly modern, but it was clean. Anti walked directly to the receptionist seated at a desk, asking, "Who's in charge of figurin' out what goes in the papers?"

The worker stammered, "He's up-upstairs, last d-door on the right."

"Thank you," Anti said with a smile, dinging the help bell for good measure before jogging up the stairs two at a time. Without knocking, he burst into the room, taking a knife from his pocket to twirl. It was the same ivory-inlay pocket knife Dark had given them before their battle with Heathen so many months ago. 

A man in a suit on a phone jumped when his door was broken open. He quickly said, "I'll call you back," and hung up.

"Oh, I wasn't interruptin' somethin', was I?" Anti said with mock apology.

"No, not at all. Um...what can I help you with?" the man asked.

Anti slapped the flier he'd picked up onto the desk between himself and the businessman, "I wanna know everythin' you can tell me about who wants these papers and shade ads printed."

The man gave the flier a glance, "I'm...my sincerest apologies, but I haven't even met him, myself."

"Really? You do a lot of sales over the phone, then?" 

"In this case, yes. He was very reluctant to share much information with me."

With that, Anti jumped over the desk, slamming the man into a wall behind him and pressing his knife to his throat. "Are you absolutely certain he didn't leave any sort of clues? No phone number, address?"

The man swallowed, "Quite positive, but now that you mention it, he did say to spread the word that he was going to be hosting a rally in the town square. Today, as a matter of fact."

"Very interestin'," Anti said, lightly dragging the tip of his knife along the man's jaw, "nothin' else?"

"Nothing of use, sorry," he said, muscles tense.

Anti studied him for a few beats of agonizing silence before he said, "Alright, works for me," and pat the man on the cheek. He flipped his knife shut and strolled back to the door, "But do me a favor and quit postin' that shit. It's in poor taste."

"...Alright," the man said as he watched Anti leave.

Anti waved to the receptionist with a grin as he left, Jack saying, _You didn't kill him?_

_He gave us what we wanted. And we're on a time crunch, didn't wanna get too sidetracked._

Jack began to wonder if whatever the nightmare man had done to Anti hadn't entirely worn off as they made their way to the town square. There was already a small crowd of no more than thirty people gathered around a raised platform, acting like a mini stage. Anti slowed, not wanting to attract attention to the fact he was a shade at an anti-shade rally. He scanned the throng of people, Jack saying, _Whoever's runnin' this has gotta be brave._

 _Or an idiot,_ Anti retorted, keeping a keen eye out as he moved to wait in a more shaded spot. 

It didn't take long before the people were cheering and applauding for a man climbing up onto the stage. Anti narrowed his eyes, straightening as Jack said, _Wait, is that...?_

The man raised a hand to acknowledge the crowd with a bashful smile, rubbing the hand through his scruff on its way back to hang at his side. "Hello, everybody, and welcome," Felix said. 

Anti frowned, _I told that fucker if I ever saw him again-_

 _Shh,_ Jack shushed him so they could listen.

"Friends," Felix said, "believe me when I tell you that I know you're scared to be here. You're not even the ones on the bloody platform, how d'you think I feel?" This earned a quiet chuckle from a few members of the audience. "But in all seriousness, this is dangerous business, so I'll keep it brief. Over the past few months I've dedicated my life to learning about shades. Some of you might be victims of your own demons out there tonight." A hush fell over the listeners. "Well I'm here to tell you there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I know some people who want to help you. They're eager to meet you." Anti balled his hands into fists, "And believe me when I say they want nothing more than to help you. And if you don't have shades, you can still help. They need people like you, free of this dark burden, to help spread the word. We can end this affliction, but we can't do it alone. Please, take a flier," he paused to reach into a satchel, pulling out a stack of papers. "Take two, if you want. Spread the word, and you spread the cure. Thank you."

The audience applauded again, and Felix's gaze swept out past the crowd as he passed out papers to ascertain if there were others listening from afar. About that time, he took note of Anti, the shade's eyes cutting through the shadows to glare at him. Abruptly, Felix moved, jumping offstage and taking off at a sprint in the opposite direction.

"Ohoho, no ya don't pretty boy," Anti said as he immediately gave chase.

Jack snapped, _Anti, no, he could be leadin' you right to 'em!_

 _Then we'll just have to catch the lil' prick before that,_ Anti retorted, giggling madly as they pursued him. 

Felix ran down several alleys at random, hoping to shake Anti from his trail. However, Anti was perceptive and persistent, managing to keep up. Anti shouted, "Did you miss me? I missed you, Felix. Stop awhile, we can talk," as he drew closer.

Felix said, "Please, Jack, don't do this. I swear I had left town but I had to come back."

"Jack isn't here," Anti replied as he closed in on him. 

Felix made a wrong turn, ending up facing a dead end in an alleyway. Anti skidded to a halt as Felix knelt down, "I'm sorry, Anti, that's right, that's...look, I can explain."

Anti laughed, "You're gonna be doin' a lotta that, soon, trust me. But Dark's gonna wanna hear this, too."

"D...Dark? I...oh god, not him," Felix whimpered, clutching his hands over his head, "he'll kill me."

"Not if I don't get around to it first," Anti said, eyeing him. _This is fuckin' pathetic._

 _Give him a break, he's scared. Let me talk to him,_ Jack said.

Anti hesitated but withdrew, Jack's eyes fading back to blue. Jack said, "Hey, man, don't worry about it," calmly.

Felix slowly looked up in astonishment, "J...Jack? Wh...I thought Anti had totally taken control of you. Shit, I thought you were effectively dead."

"Nope. Anti and I actually make a pretty wild team. But uh...I do still want ya to come with us back to Mark's. Dark will wanna chat with ya. I can't help that."

Felix asked, "Well, what does he wanna know?"

"He wants to know who you're workin' for, assumin' they're the ones who've been makin' these shade-removal ads."

"Oh. Actually, it's funny you should mention that," Felix said. He straightened, voice suddenly much calmer as his blue eyes lost all their color, the pupils shrinking until they were gone, leaving voids of white. "Because they're interested in you, too," he smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nyello all you beautiful people! heads up that I won't be posting after this for a good four or five days, so consider this an official starting point for longer breaks between chapters. anyway, enjoy!

"Oh _fuck_ no, I'm out," Jack threw his hands up, taking several quick steps backwards. "Nevermind, I'll see myself out."

Anti said, _Where the fuck d'you think you're goin'? I knew I shouldn't've-_

Felix smiled, "Don't worry. I hate to think what my employers would do if I brought you to harm." He didn't seem to be looking directly at Jack; his blank eyes seemed to be looking through him more than anything.

Jack frowned, "Look, Felix...well, who am I speakin' to?"

"Call me Fraud."

"Right. Fraud, not that I don't trust ya, I'm sure you're a swell guy, but I really am gonna just pass on this one," Jack pointed behind himself. "I'll be goin'."

"Wait, please," Fraud said soothingly, not moving. "I won't stop you from leaving, but I respectfully ask you hear me out."

Anti growled, _He's unsettlin' as fuck, dude._

_I know, he doesn't really seem hostile. Weird for a shade._

_Let me handle this, if he attacks and we ain't ready-_

_I don't think he's goin' to._

_His name is Fraud,_ Anti pointed out.

 _...Alright, ya got a point,_ Jack conceded. _But we do this together._

 _Even better,_ Anti grinned.

Fraud had indeed waited patiently, and Jack had no doubt Fraud knew he'd been conversing with Anti before Jack's eyes began to glow green. Fraud straightened, sliding his hands in his pockets. "You have a right not to trust me."

"You don't say," Jack replied with a chuckle, random limbs twitching, creating an unsettling aura. Jack had noticed that the more often he melded with Anti in this way, the glitchier they got. They'd grown stronger as a unit. He continued smiling, "If you're going to convince me not to bring your corpse to your bosses, you'd better speak quickly."

Fraud nodded, "They want to meet you because you can help us. They need Shades as powerful as yours to enforce our message. And they have a very specific job in mind that you'd be well suited for."

"Really?" Jack giggled. "I can barely contain my enthusiasm."

"Shades with abilities like mine, we're more suited for reconnaissance. Shades like you," he tilted his head as though giving Jack a once-over, but with pupil-less eyes it was impossible to tell, "are needed to put other Shades out of their misery."

Jack narrowed his eyes, the wide smile plastered on his face faltering but not fading, "Not really the killin' type, are ya?"

"No," Fraud said with a small, almost sad grin. "But I empathize with those who resent their shades. I can sense when someone feels empowered by their Shade, and I can sense those of us...who do not." Jack grit his teeth, glaring at the other shade. Fraud continued, "You may have noticed I can't exactly see. But I see other things."

"Like what?" Jack asked thickly.

"Your connection with your shade is unique, Jack, unlike anything I've ever seen. I can teach you about it, help you realize your fullest potential. But-"

"I have to go with you, yeah," Jack cut him off. 

The corner of Fraud's mouth flicked up in an amused way. He asked, "Do we have a deal?"

Jack studied him for a moment. "Not until I've talked to Dark about this."

"Wonderful. By all means," Fraud smiled broadly. "We'll eagerly await you. Here's my number when you're ready to meet," he pulled a business card out of his pocket, holding it out. Jack took it between two fingers, glancing over it briefly before looking back up at Fraud. 

"Thanks."

"It's been my pleasure," Fraud inclined his head, setting a hand over his heart.

Jack didn't turn immediately. He was too busy considering killing Fraud anyway; he certainly didn't seem the type to retaliate if he did. In the end, he took a step back, finally turning and jogging back towards Mark's, business card in hand.

~~~

Dark drummed his fingers on his desk. Anti was seated across from him, the card sitting between them. Dark took a deep breath, "What an intriguing situation we've found ourselves in."

Anti said, "An astute observation, my liege," with a smirk. 

"Don't," Dark said with an expression of disgust for the nickname. "That's terribly unbecoming of you."

Anti chuckled, "Sorry." He hadn't mentioned Fraud's knowledge that Jack still rebuked his corrupted half, to an extent. Jack was relieved; he feared to think what Dark would do knowing that Jack had never fully accepted Anti. 

"Just don't do it again," Dark said, rubbing a hand over his jaw in thought. "You said this Fraud never attacked you?"

"Not directly."

Dark nodded slowly, "It's very unlike a shade to not have violent tendencies. Knowing that you've known Felix for some time, his own Shade must have been brought forth between the last time you saw him and now. However, usually calmer shades have lived for so long that they've expended their violence. For a young one to be so serene..."

"We found it odd as well, but he's named for an act of deceit. Could just be a good actor."

"Could very well be. And what a strange ability, to top it off. To be able to detect inner turmoil to the extent of whether a shade is closely tied to their host would prove to be a very...telling power," he steepled his fingers under his chin knowingly. 

Anti shifted in his seat, "I imagine it would." He quickly continued, "I feel sorry for the bastard, though. Imagine walkin' down the street and bein' able to pick up on everyone's feelins. It'd be such a downer," he crossed his arms, not making eye contact.

Dark waited a moment before replying, "Indeed. So, I take it you want to go through with meeting them."

Anti frowned, "What makes ya say that?"

"You're being unusually dodgy. You've barely looked at me, typical characteristic of hiding something. And you didn't even crumple the card. In fact, it's still perfectly in tact, almost as though you were afraid to damage it to the point of mistaking any information on it."

"Damn, you could just tie me to the bed and beat me 'til I talk," Anti grumbled, though he did finally make eye contact with Dark. 

"But you'd enjoy that, wouldn't you? This is a much more effective way of getting you to open up to me."

Anti snorted, muttering, "I beg to differ," under his breath.

Dark gave him a tired look, "When will you trust me?"

Anti looked up to him, "I do trust ya."

"Then just tell me what it is you think I shouldn't know."

Anti squirmed under Dark's gaze. Jack sighed, _Fine, just tell him. It's on me, anyway; why d'you care?_

_...Cause believe it or not, I don't want him to torture ya._

_Bullshit, you're a damn masochist! He's gettin' suspicious, just admit what's wrong,_ Jack said hurriedly.

Anti swallowed, Dark's eyes narrowing further the longer he went without replying. _He'll see it as a weakness. I'm afraid he'll see less of us._

Jack pressed, _Well you gotta tell him somethin'!_

Anti blurted, "Jack wanted the operation to be real, alright?!"

A thick silence clogged the room. It was so intense, Anti felt it was practically a corporeal blanket which he desperately wished he could hide under. Dark raised a brow, but remained quiet. Jack said, _It'll be okay,_ as he felt Anti's heart rate increase, _everythin's-_

"Wanted, or wants?" Dark asked softly.

Anti opened his mouth, but no reply came out. He tried again, managing, "I don't know," in a broken tone. "He just got excited when he read the article."

Dark held them under his gaze before gesturing a hand, conveying the silent command he wished to speak directly to Jack. Anti didn't hesitate, falling back to let Jack take the wheel. As soon as he was in control again, he straightened out of Anti's slouch, tightly folding his hands in his lap. He met Dark's eyes, trying to prepare himself for the berating of a lifetime.

Dark said, "Do you truly wish it were real?" in a dangerously calm tone.

Jack responded, "I had a hope, but that hope was shortly crushed," without missing a beat. "Anti and I don't...we get along because we have to. His methods are so much more gruesome than mine that yeah, I was kinda hopin' it was possible to be rid of him. He can be a nuisance at times, but," he shrugged, "he's our nuisance. And truth be told, life's better with him."

Jack steadily held Dark's gaze, even as he felt a flicker of curiosity from Anti. Dark said, "So long as you don't have a delusion that going to these people will help separate the two of you..."

Jack shook his head, "Not anymore. I'm stuck with him, and we're stuck with you. Might as well make the most of it."

Dark said, "Alright. I suppose we can take a trip to see them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all better believe the awkward tension between jack and anti isn't gone, that wasn't totally resolved which will become clear later. thought i'd point it out now


	5. Chapter 5

Jack was hesitant to sleep that night. He had an unsettling notion that now that he'd talked to Fraud, the figure in his nightmares might play a more prominent role. Dark was already asleep. They were planning on heading out first thing in the morning, and he was adamant they be well rested for the visit.

Jack lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with his hands folded on his stomach. Anti said, _Ya may as well try to sleep._

_I get the feelin' our friend the nightmare demon won't let me._

_Ya don't know 'til ya try, right? Besides, if he does, I'll get another chance to take a stab at him._

Jack rolled his eyes, not bothering to respond as he turned to lay on his side, facing Mark. Mark seemed to be completely at ease. His eyes weren't even moving beneath the lids, making Jack wonder if Dark had something to do with it. Jack sighed and shut his eyes, shifting to be more comfortable. He frowned when Anti started terribly singing, _Rock-a-by Jackie on the treetooop-_

_Shut the fuck up,_ Jack snapped. _Ya literally just told me to get some sleep!_

_Couldn't resist._

Jack grimaced and adjusted again, bending his arm to rest under his pillow. It was taking a lot of effort to not pour over his relationship with Anti in the silence, almost prompting Jack to dare to ask Anti to start singing again to take his mind off it. He forced himself not to think about anything, emptying his mind until at last he drifted into an uneasy slumber.

_Jack's eyes opened in a vast room. The walls were stone, as was the floor. Enormous pillars lined the walls, bracing the ceiling. There was no dampness, only an arid chill. There was no one else around. Jack turned, calling, "Hello?" The single word bounced endlessly off the walls and away._

_As soon as it had faded, a faint whisper in the distance began making its way back to he and Anti. By the time they could properly hear it, the word, "Sean," was reverberating intensely around them. It caused the ground to tremble, the quaking earth cracking the pillars until they began to collapse. When the pieces of rock hit the ground, it shattered and began to fall away, the walls disintegrating and revealing a black void around them._

_Jack was left standing on a hovering piece of stone, holding his arms out for balance, petrified of the endless blackness below them. The segment of floor Jack was standing on gave way, and he fell into the nothingness, reaching an arm up. Anti stretched out from Jack, encompassing his body as Anti reached up and snatched the flooring still overhead. His claws scraped against the stone, and even as he tried to haul them back up, the remaining floor crumbled and they fell once more._

_They landed roughly on their back on another surface, the world rotating around them until they were standing. In front of them, a shadow somehow darker than the surrounding void began to form a figure which walked forward._

_"Sean," it said again, but this time, rather than echo, the word was instantly cut short, as if they were now in a soundproof chamber. The air thus felt thick, too thick to breathe, and Jack grabbed at his throat as he choked for oxygen. As he gasped for air, the figure strolled towards him, still a silhouette with no defining features other than the masculine voice. It reached out to touch him._

"Sean," Mark shouted, shaking Jack's shoulder.

Jack gasped in a breath, hyperventilating as he quickly sat up, looking around the room to get his bearings. "Fuck me," Jack said, voice trembling. He rubbed his throat, finally looking back at Mark.

Mark said, "You were thrashing in your sleep, like how your body does when you're meshed with Anti. What happened?"

Jack shook his head, "I was...in this huge ass room. It broke apart and some shadowy mother fucker was sayin' my name and tried to touch me, but right before he did, you woke me up."

Mark scooted over to give Jack a hug, "Well, it's alright. It was just a dream."

"Yeah," Jack mumbled, tucking his face into Mark's neck, "just a dream." He didn't want to admit how strongly he felt otherwise.

"Need some tea?"

"Please," Jack said, the two remaining in an embrace for another couple minutes before Mark kissed his cheek and led the way downstairs.

~~~

After they'd finished their tea, Mark insisted they try to sleep again. Jack opted to wait for Mark to pass out before he sat up, not about to risk falling asleep. He didn't get another wink of shuteye for the remainder of the night, but he did pretend to be asleep when Mark was coming to, morning light just beginning to peek in through the curtains.

Mark yawned and stretched his arms over his head, Jack not able to resist peeking up at the muscular limbs. Mark said, "Morning," without even looking in Jack's direction.

"Oh, uh," Jack said, caught off guard, "hey."

"You didn't sleep, did you?"

"...Maybe not," Jack admitted.

Mark gave a soft snort, "Maybe not." He ruffled Jack's hair, "Well, you gave it your best shot."

"Yeeeah, sure," Jack sat up. He rubbed his eyes and gave a large yawn. 

When he opened his eyes again, they were purple, Anti saying, "Sleep is for the weak, anyway."

"Mhm," Mark hummed, no longer particularly phased by their abrupt changes in control. "Well, the strong at least need breakfast."

"Uuugh," Anti whined, draping himself across the bed, "I just wanna gooo."

Mark chuckled, "You're incredibly childish." He stood and whistled, Chica picking her head up and blinking tiredly at him. "Come on, I'll make bacon and eggs."

As decided by Dark, they set out almost immediately after breakfast. Dark kept the business card in his chest pocket, even though he'd memorized the information on it the day Jack had given it to him. He had also insisted they drive, as they were travelling much further than usual. The location on Fraud's card was an hour away. Anti didn't do well on road trips, growing restless after only about ten minutes of being stuck in the passenger seat. He drummed his fingers on his knee as he stared out the window longingly, itching to be out of the "metallic deathtrap", as he'd taken to calling cars. 

When they were finally arriving in a parking lot outside a large warehouse-looking building, Anti practically launched himself from the vehicle. He hopped in place, clapping his hands together, "Alright, let's do this, come on. I'm so fuckin' ready to kick some ass."

"Patience," Dark instructed, getting out of the car as he observed the building. The parking lot was empty save for them, creating a very apocalyptic atmosphere. "We still know nothing of our adversary."

"This is a hirin' gig anyway, supposedly. If they're for real, we ain't here to fight."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't use caution."

"Well no shit. Come on, this is excitin'," Anti smiled running towards the building. Dark took a deep breath and walked briskly after him with long strides.

When Dark opened the door Anti went through, he saw the other shade waiting as he gaped at the interior. Dark immediately slowed as he took in the scene, stopping by Anti and putting a hand in front of his chest to prevent him from running off. A stark contrast to the desolate parking lot, the inside of the building looked like a refugee camp. Some people bustled around, checking on various groups of people dressed in rags who looked like they hadn't showered in weeks. Cots were scattered everywhere for people to lay on, and cushions littered the floor. Trash can fires kept the place warm and lit, the industrial lights above looking like they'd broken ages ago. Plastered on the walls were posters similar to the advertisement Jack had picked up. Banners hanging across the ceiling portrayed phrases such as, 'Not Better Together,' and, 'Stronger Without A Partner'. Anti scanned the crowd, and those people staring back at him looked lifeless. There was a deep emptiness to their gazes. 

Dark softly said, "We should go."

Anti replied, "Not 'til we've met the people in charge."

"We can find out some other way," Dark hissed. "Something is definitely wrong about this place."

"Tha's what we're here to find out, ain't it?" Anti asked. 

Dark grabbed Anti's wrist, "Not anymore." When he turned around, prepared to pull Anti out by force, he froze. Behind them stood a shade with white, blank eyes.

"So glad you could make it," Fraud said. "We saw you coming."

Dark growled, "Get out of our way. We're leaving."

"So soon?" Fraud frowned.

Anti said, "No, not 'til-"

Dark interrupted, "Yes, so soon. I don't know what the fuck this is, but I am not waiting to find out."

Fraud shrugged, "Very well." He stepped aside, "Perhaps you'll come to your senses some other time. Anti, if you'd prefer to stay, you are of course welcome."

Dark frowned, glaring daggers at the Irish shade. His look clearly conveyed his message: 'If you don't say you're leaving I will actually murder you.'

Anti glanced between Dark and Fraud. Knowing Dark wouldn't dare leave him alone, he said, "Yeah, I'd love to."

Dark rubbed a hand over his face. Fraud grinned, "Wonderful. My employers anxiously wish to meet you."

Dark said, "I'm coming as well."

"Glad to hear you had a change of heart," Fraud said, the same grin remaining on his face. "Come, right this way," he gestured for them to follow.

Anti looked smug, the smirk disappearing when he saw how positively furious Dark looked. Dark swept past him, not even offering Anti a glare, instead boring his gaze into Fraud's back. Anti frowned before jogging after them. The people occupying the surrounding area watched them as they passed, their heads turning as a unit. Dark said, "So is this a taste of your so called miracle cure? You make people with shades live in some sort of brainwashed poverty?"

Fraud said, "All will be explained in due time. And though it may appear so, these people are here of their own will. We help them according to their own particular needs."

"The treatments are personalized?"

"To best meet the needs of the individual affected, yes."

Dark looked highly skeptical. Fraud led them out of the large, centralized room and into a hallway. Anti asked, "How many people exactly run this place?"

"There is a group of us who run most of the daily operations, but there are two that remain technically in charge."

Dark said, "And we're on our way to meet them?"

"We are," Fraud nodded. 

"And you can't even give us their names?"

"I'll let them introduce themselves."

"Right," Dark said.

Fraud stopped in front of an elevator, pressing the call button. Anti said, "Damn, there is electricity in this place, after all."

"In the important areas, yes," Fraud said, the elevator doors sliding open. Fraud stepped in and stood aside to let Dark and Anti board. As the door shut, Anti at last was hit with a feeling of dread and regret. Dark's eyes were narrowed, still refusing to even glance in Anti's direction. He was emitting waves of anger. Anti shifted his weight on his feet, trying to appear like he definitely still felt confident in his decision to stay. 

The elevator ride down took longer than Anti had anticipated. When at last it ground to a halt and the doors slid open, a bolt of panic went through him. The room before them was vast and made of stone. Fraud walked forward casually, "They're just ahead."

Anti set a hand on Dark's arm, not leaving the elevator. Dark humored him at last by looking at him, raising a brow in silent question. Anti whispered, "This is the room from Jack's dream."

Dark paused before responding, "Well, might we well make the most of it while we're here, right?" coldly before storming off after Fraud. Anti's stomach churned more due to Jack's influence as he followed. He stayed close to Dark as they went along, Dark keeping his back straight and his face emotionless with his hands held behind him. Anti, as per usual, was Dark's contrast in every way--his back slouched, hands at his sides and at the ready, teeth bared in a snarl. 

Anti looked past Fraud and noticed for the first time the main difference in this room versus the one from the nightmare: there was a couch on a raised dais like a throne at the far end. Behind the couch was a mess of television screens, all depicting different images. Halls branched out from this main chamber, and seated to oversee the entire ensemble were two figures. A broad-shouldered man with shoulder-length hair sat forward, his chin propped up by his hand, elbow resting on his knee. The other figure was long and lanky, a mass of curly hair on his head. He lounged sideways, head in the first figure's lap, feet dangling over the arm of the couch. The second figure raised his hands up when he noticed their visitors as the former glared.

"Ah, Anti, Dark! Welcome!" the second man said in a chipper voice, flipping to sit up. "I was wondering when you'd make it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, watching the new season of stranger things is making me want to torment some characters [drums fingers together suspiciously]


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo! i'm sorry if i've worried anyone/made them anxious by not posting anything, as a reader of fanfic myself i know how aggravating it is when author's don't update often hahahaha hmmm  
> anyhoodle a quick warning about this chapter before i let y'all dig in
> 
> WARNING: i've been in a rough spot lately and only just got some motivation to write, and not that i'm afraid the quality of my writing will have suffered, but the vibe might get even darker and more depressing just due to where i've been lately. here's hoping it's still good stuff :)

Anti stepped closer to Dark, who stood rigidly. Anti knew the pose well; he was analyzing the situation. Already devising plans for several potential outcomes. Dark kept his gaze mostly forward on the two men on the couch, but he also casually glanced around the room without turning his head--counting other people, mentally marking who to go for first if a fight broke out, anything that could be used to their advantage.

The thinner of the two figures on the couch stood. He wore a lazy smile, hands in his pockets, practically wearing the smugness of being above them. The second of the two men hardly seemed to take note of the first's actions; he was keeping his eyes fixed on Dark. The first spoke, his voice musical and yet unsettling in its cheerfulness, "It's an honor to meet the both of you." He seemed to realize his partner wasn't also standing, doing a double-take at the empty space next to him before turning to look behind him. "Big cat," he pouted, "be polite."

The second man groaned but stood, keeping his thumbs hooked in his pockets. Anti wasn't sure which was more overpowering: the rage emanating from the second figure or the relaxed vibes coming from the first. Anti said, "Ya know who we are."

Dark nodded, "Quite. You leave us at a disadvantage."

"Well, you know, safety in secrecy," the first man waved a hand nonchalantly. "But it's a good start. Call me Hex. My ah," he chuckled, "counterpart goes by Dan."

At the use of the word counterpart, the second man's mouth actually twitched up into a grin. He turned his head to look at Hex, "Although nowadays it's more like would have gone."

Hex giggled, "I mean, he practically handed me the reigns," as he slipped an arm around his partner. "You've got more of a fighter, don't you, Rapture?"

Rapture nodded, "Arin isn't content to leave me with all the control. It's a bit irritating."

Dark narrowed his eyes, "The two of you have been in control of your hosts for some time, then."

"You could say that," Rapture said. "But enough about us."

Hex clapped his hands together, "Yes! We're gathered here today for you," he made finger guns at Dark and Anti. 

Anti shook his head, "I tell ya one thing. This conversation ain't goin' anywhere until we know what the deal here is."

Dark looked impressed with his initiative. Dark added, "He's right. We can't make any sort of deal without knowing more about you. What's the end goal of this operation? How does it work? What exactly," he enunciated carefully, "do you two do?"

Rapture said, "You're asking an annoying number of questions."

Anti felt the shadows in the room thicken with Dark's growing power, the shade trying to match up to that of the two before him. Dark said, "Forgive me for not handing myself to you on a silver platter. That isn't something I do."

"Maybe not for us," Hex said with a grin, glancing to Anti. Every muscle in Anti's body was tense, poised for action.

Dark didn't miss the message. "Your errand boy," he gestured behind himself to where Fraud was standing, "told us this was a recruitment call. It'd be a shame for you if that were not the case."

"Oh I know," Hex nodded, "tales of you two and your exploits are always so..."

"Regaling?" Rapture offered.

"Well, kinda, I was thinking more like 'intriguing' or...maybe 'spectacular'."

"Quit sucking their dicks in front of me," Rapture drawled.

Hex shrugged, "In any case, we know your strength. That's why you're here. We prefer not to do anything by force; it's such a waste of energy."

Dark said, "I couldn't agree more. So why don't you start by answering my questions instead of beating around the bush?"

Anti chipped in, "Yeah, Fraud mentioned you treat people here based on individual need."

"We do!" Hex smiled. If Anti hadn't known he was a shade, he'd look like one of the purest people in the world. "That's where our abilities come in. Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" he held out a hand palm up and raised his right eyebrow, which had a thin scar cutting through it. 

Dark and Anti exchanged a look. "You're bein' suspiciously dodgy about this whole thing, so I'm gonna have to pass," Anti replied.

"Me, as well," Dark agreed, eyeing the offered hand suspiciously. "Besides, having suspicions about where that hand has been, I'd rather not take it until I've at least seen you wash off."

To Dark's surprise, it was Rapture who growled at the remark. His eyes flared into a brilliant array of orange and red, like burning coals. He stepped forward, but Hex quickly held out a hand in front of his chest. The former shade scowled, Dark making sure to note he was quick to anger. Hex said, "Alright. It's a fair enough response, and they have the right to be concerned," as he moved his hand to rest on Rapture's shoulder. "It's a three part process. First, Fraud identifies which hosts are the most intricately connected to their shades. Depending on the strength of the connection, one of two things happens, and it all falls to whether the host no longer wants their shade. If it's a weak connection, the simplest thing to do is have me divide them."

Dark looked skeptical, "Divide them?"

"It's my specialty," Hex grinned. "And it's not dividing, per se. My power lies in shutting a shade down; I can put them in a coma, if you will. A host and a shade are interconnected. While they live better in tandem, it's still entirely possible to survive apart. But once a shade is taken away, it leaves a hole in the host--a missing piece."

Anti's stomach knotted, saying quietly, "The people in the camp upstairs..."

Hex nodded, "It's a sad thing, really. But more often than not, it's what they want. People don't realize what shades do for them."

Dark said, "And if it's a strong connection?"

Rapture's eyes suddenly focused on Anti. Hex's easy smile didn't fade, "We bolster it. More specifically, Rapture here fires them up; he can ignite abilities you wouldn't think possible."

"What's the catch?" Dark asked.

"Well, either the host is the one in control with a shade that's uninvolved, or...?" he prompted.

Anti said, "The shade takes the wheel." He was staring at Hex, not realizing Dark had looked to him.

Hex stepped forward slowly, not taking his eyes off Anti in turn, "Fraud has seen within you. There's untapped strength there that you've only barely scratched the surface of. And in exchange for helping you achieve your greatest potential, we only ask for your help in bringing more shades to us that we can use."

"And if we refuse?" Dark asked.

"Then I'm sorry you couldn't see the benefits. You can go back to your lives. We'd still appreciate if you sent us other shades who might want to participate." By this point, he was standing in front of Anti, calm and collected.

Jack thought, _Anti,_ forcefully to make the shade snap out of his thoughts. _He's the one who's been in our dreams, he's gotta be. He's the one who knocked you out. I know his offer sounds temptin'. And I know we haven't had the greatest relationship lately, but he can't be tellin' the whole truth. He just said shades and hosts are interdependent; we need each other, whether we like it or not. If he does his mojo on us and gives you total control..._

_I know, Jackie boy,_ Anti said, outwardly frowning as Hex held out his hand again. 

_We've already been gettin' stronger on our own, just by knowin' each other. We already know how to work well together._

_I know,_ Anti said again, a smirk playing at his lips. _Care to show him?_

Hex said, "All you need to do is ask, Anti," as he looked down at the shorter shade.

Dark was waiting with as calm of an expression as he could muster; Anti knew if he took Hex's hand, Dark would undoubtedly intervene. Anti shut his eyes in thought, and when he opened them to look up at the taller shade, they were glowing neon green. "You know, I'm not good with askin'," he said with a large smile, head twitching violently as he suddenly grabbed Hex's wrist, digging his claws into Hex's skin, "I take what I want."

Hex's eyes widened right before the room erupted into chaos. As soon as Anti's hand had clutched Hex's wrist, Rapture moved forward, but not towards them--he made a beeline for Dark. Dark had been keeping a careful watch on Anti's actions, trying to judge what course of action he'd take, and he definitely hadn't expected this one. He was taking a step towards Anti, the air pierced with the high-pitched ringing of Dark's aura. He didn't catch the movement in the corner of his eye in time to stop Rapture from colliding with him.

Anti's head whipped around to watch the two in a sudden panic, allowing Hex to lift his other hand and rest it on the side of Anti's head. An immense feeling of tranquility crashed over Anti and Jack like a wave, smothering them and enveloping them in such a strong sense of calm that all their worries were immediately flushed from their heads. In the dream when Hex had done this to them, it had been more like a gentle lull; in person, his power was amplified tenfold. Jack had no doubt that if Hex exerted just a small amount of further effort, they'd undoubtedly pass out. But Hex kept them awake, kneeling down with Anti in his arms as he made him watch Dark and Rapture's exceedingly more intense encounter. But with Hex cradling him, Anti couldn't worry about Dark if he wanted to. He was so completely at ease that it felt more like he was watching two figures dance through a haze.

In actuality, Rapture had tackled Dark away from Hex, keeping him out of reach. Dark's body flickered and he teleported himself out from beneath his attacker, solidifying again a few feet away. He jumped into a stand as Rapture straightened. Dark cracked his neck, growling, "You won't have him," as the whine in the room increased in volume and his voice began to echo. It didn't occur to him that Fraud had been watching from the sidelines; in fact, no one had so much as looked in their direction since the fight had begun. 

Rapture smiled, "Don't be greedy," before rushing forward. Dark's form began to split into its two main colored clones, Red and Blue, which is exactly when he noticed Hex was staring at him intently. Time seemed to slow as a sense of peace flowed through Dark, immediately countered by the burning sensation he got when Rapture had grabbed him--not any of the three colored clones, but the original, black and white body.

Hex said, "What an interesting experiment you'll be," as Rapture focused, channeling his power. Dark felt like his mind was being torn into three segments. His two clones both grabbed their heads, the screeching in the air magnifying as Mark's shade was separated into parts and individually strengthened. Dark screamed, and Anti could do nothing but lay in the ecstasy of Hex's arms and watch, recognizing the potential danger but so desperately not wanting to leave Hex's embrace. 

The room appeared to shatter into fragments before Dark's clones crashed back together again. The room returned to normal, the abrupt silence deafening without Dark's static whine. Rapture released him and stepped back, Hex anxiously awaiting the results of their test as he stroked a hand absently through Anti's hair.

Dark panted, holding up a trembling hand, "What...have you done to me?" he asked, body appearing to glitch, unable to settle on a color.

Rapture replied, "I gave a voice to your...buried egos."

Dark's body settled on a pink hue. He chuckled softly before it grew into a laugh, his voice and accent changing to match what suddenly appeared to be a completely new identity. He chortled and spoke with a slur to his words, "Hooo, I see. I really think I do. What an interesting sorta situation this has turned out ta be."

His body flickered again, taking on a blue tint to his skin. His back straightened, suddenly speaking articulately, "The main characteristics of what make Dark, Dark. We have been given our own personalities and essentially turned into four minds in one: analytical, anger, violence, and human."

His skin grayed out again, Dark's irises pitch black. His voice was now monotone but demonic and deep, "You strengthened me, and in doing so, gave me multiple personality disorder." He cracked his neck again, drawling, "Swell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this...is gonna be a pain in the ass to write. but damn it's gonna be fun  
> for those wondering, i made up dan and arin's "Evil" egos--in this case, I derived Hex from Dan's stage name, Sexbang, and I got Arin's name from his youtube personality, Egoraptor. dan and arin themselves will make appearances here and there, i promise!! i love the fools too much to only use their evil halves  
> like fire and ice, wouldn't you agree? ;3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slides in* guess who's back and certainly not better than ever!! it's meeee i'msosorry  
> i started neglecting this fic bc truthfully i hadn't outlined any sort of plan for where i wanted this to go and then i procrastinated bc i felt bad and certain things happened irl and well you know how that goes  
> but the important thing is i have returned! and HOPEFULLY can crank out some chapters before my new semester begins. without further ado, have a long awaited update :D

Hex tilted his head. "He has...multiple shades?"

"More like his shade was composed of multiple parts," Rapture said, keeping a close eye on Dark. Dark was studying his hand, a constant glow of red and blue outlining his figure. "In a way, I guess he had multiple personalities."

"Like the disorder?"

"Possibly. We'll have to study him to learn more, but that's all I could gather. Fraud?"

Fraud, who had up until then been watching from a distance, approached as he replied, "Yes, sir?"

"Can you detect any difference in his strength?" Rapture asked.

Fraud turned his gaze to Dark, who was holding unnaturally still. "Mark's bond to his shade is the same as before. They are closely entwined, but I do not detect more than two minds at a time."

Hex cooed, "Ooohhh, that's so neat! What do you think?" he looked back down to Anti, who was still lazily draped across his lap. "Oh," Hex giggled, "my bad." He set Anti down on the ground and stood, taking a few steps back.

Anti remained groggy, though he sat up, blinking slowly as he tried to concentrate on anything. His brain still felt like mush to the point that even coming up with simple sentences was a chore. He shook his head in the attempt to focus, finally looking at Dark, who he found wasn't looking back at him. He assumed Mark was trying to converse with all his new personalities. That made him frown. Was Dark still Dark? He looked similar, but something was definitely wrong with him. His general demeanor was more somber, his skin more gray and dull. Anti ground his teeth and stood, growling, "What did you do to him?"

Rapture didn't seem threatened, responding, "Told you. I gave rise to-"

" _No_ ," Anti asserted, "you changed him! You didn't just give rise to new egos or whatever the fuck--you did somethin'."

Rapture raised a brow and looked to Hex. Hex retained his lazy smile, but he narrowed his eyes. Hex said, "You're perceptive."

Anti reeled around to face him, "Tell me. Tell _us_ , or I swear you'll have hell to pay."

Rapture said, "Nothing wrong with a few half-truths. I mean, not like we knew how he'd end up after I got to him."

"What do you mean? Damn it, don't keep givin' me bullshit roundabout answers!" Anti snapped.

"Hey man, chill," Hex said soothingly, "he'll be alright. We weren't lying when we said we can amplify a shade's bond with their host to make them stronger. What we didn't know what that bolstering his strength would do...this. Nothing like it has ever happened before; usually, a shade just overtakes the host's mind, effectively giving them a body of their own, along with unrestrained power."

Anti kept track of Dark, who still had a look of quiet contemplation. He decided he'd buy him more time, saying, "So...yer sayin' Rapture fucked up?"

Rapture snarled, "I did nothing I don't ordinarily do for this. He's just different, somehow."

Anti said, "Sounds like a pretty good excuse for fuckin' up."

Rapture took a step towards him, "Do you want me to demonstrate it to you to prove it?"

"Hell," Anti smirked, "if you're sayin' ya wanna make me stronger, all the better to kick your ass."

Rapture's eyes turned a fiery orange as his temper flared. As he stormed towards Anti, Hex ran to get between them, setting his hands against Rapture's shoulders and saying, "Now, big cat, he's just poking fun to get under your skin."

"I'll get under his skin," Rapture said, glaring at Anti over Hex's shoulder.

Anti waved as Hex set a hand on Rapture's jaw, rubbing his thumb over his cheek, "I know you can, but we still need them."

The fire in Rapture's eyes faded as he set his own hand over Hex's, sighing, "I know." Hex grinned and leaned forward to give him a kiss. The moment was ruined when they heard the click of a safety catch on a gun being flipped.

Rapture turned, as he and Hex had both taken their eyes off Dark, who was back to his pink tinted skin. More importantly, he was aiming a pistol at them. He said, "You'll have ta excuse me, I'm really a terrible shot. Hands get all shaky, ya know? Maybe it's this suit," he looked down at himself, the gun arm now moving to point in a random direction above them, "it's a real tacky thing, isn't it?"

Anti tried to keep an eye on Fraud, who seemed to be the only other shade in the vicinity paying them any attention. Hex asked, "Do you have a name?"

"Me?" the pink shade asked, still waving the gun around carelessly. "Why, I hadn't thought about it yet. What a fun question!" he giggled madly. "Oh let's see, let's give this the ole think-a-roony. Hmm..." he rubbed his chin with his free hand. Next to the couch where Hex and Rapture had initially been sitting, a phone began to ring. Abruptly, the pink shade turned, firing and somehow managing to hit the small target, cutting off its first ring. Anti felt his stomach churn, partially due to fear of this new shade's deadly precision and partially because it had been rather hot. "Now let's see, where was I...?" he said calmly, completely forgetting about the phone. "Oh! I think I got one. Call me...Wilford."

Hex tore his eyes away from the phone to look at him, asking, "Wilford?"

"Isn't it great? Yeah, I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Hex nodded, keeping a wary eye on the pistol. "I...have to ask, I thought you said you had a bad shot?"

"What do you mean?" Wilford asked.

"I..." Hex looked to the destroyed phone and shook his head, "nevermind. Could you do me a favor, though?"

"Well suuure! You just name it."

"Put...the gun down."

Wilford said, "Oh, but I rather like this gun. Gives me a sense of power holding it, ya know?" His entire body shivered with delight, mumbling, "Ohoho, yeah."

Rapture leaned to Hex to whisper, "He had this nutjob in him this whole time?"

Hex shrugged as Anti said, "Wilford, uh, not to be rude, but is Dark still in there?"

"Well sure he is. You know Dark? He's a good friend of mine."

"Yeah, mine, too," Anti replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, uh huh," Anti nodded, "and...if you don't mind, could we talk with him, instead?"

Wilford frowned at that, saying, "Am I not good enough for ya?" as he waved the gun about carelessly again, making everyone in the area tense.

"No, you're great, I'm lovin' your style, man. But I just want to see him."

Wilford sighed dramatically, "I suppose if he wants to come out and play, I'll let him." He set his hands on his hips, asking, "Well are ya comin' or whaaat?" to seemingly no one.

As soon as he'd asked, his back straightened, the color draining from his face and hands. Dark took a deep breath, re-aiming the gun at Hex, hand perfectly steady. "Thank you," his deep voice reverberated with itself, the usual whine behind his words. "He managed to grab the reins while we were having a discussion."

Hex asked, "We?"

"Obviously," he drawled. "You said you wanted us to help you recruit shades. I've got a couple you might like."

Hex blinked, exchanging an incredulous look with Rapture, "Really?"

"They don't generally play nice with others, but I'll see what I can do. But first," he turned his gaze to Anti while keeping the gun locked on Hex, "I want you to work your magic on him."

"What?" Anti asked. He shook his head, "No, nah, think I'll pass. I already thought this one over and y'know I'm really alright with-"

"Shut up," Dark said firmly. A cold sensation crept through Anti's chest. He knew it: this wasn't the real Dark. He gestured with the gun for Rapture to move, "Do it."

Rapture didn't move to follow the order until he saw Hex nod. Rapture slowly turned away from Dark, walking towards Anti, who backed away from him. Anti said, "We can talk about this."

"You're not the one with the gun," Rapture countered. 

"Okay, point taken," Anti said, right before his eyes turned green and his body began to glitch. Rapture hesitated, but before Jack could strike, a shot rang out in the facility. They all flinched, looking around to see who'd been hurt, but no one had. 

Dark held the gun pointed in the air and said, "Stop."

"Fuck's sake, dude!" Rapture said. "Do you want me to do this or not?"

"That was a test," Dark replied, lowering the gun. "It gave me sufficient results. We'd like to leave now."

"Y...what?" Hex asked.

"You said you wouldn't hold us here. So we're leaving."

"I...guess we did. Fine, I trust you know the way out."

"I do. Part of me now has a very detailed memory."

Hex frowned, "Right. Use your new gifts wisely."

"We plan to. Anti," Dark kept the gun aimed at Hex as he walked around them towards the exit, "come along."

Jack didn't reply, simply falling into step beside Dark as he walked backwards, gun fixed firmly on Hex. Nobody moved until they made it to the elevator, the doors sliding shut before it rattled to life and began to rise. Dark holstered the weapon, causing Jack to release his breath. He returned back to being just Anti, finally finding the nerve to ask, "The fuck was all that about?"

"I won't say more until we're outside the facility."

"In the car?" Anti asked.

"We're not taking the car."

"Why not?"

"They've undoubtedly bugged it."

"...Oh."

They both fell silent. Anti mourned the fact that Dark didn't talk as much as he used to. Once the elevator hit the main level, they stepped out, Anti following Dark's lead. As Dark had said, the presumably blue ego he now had must have had a sharp memory. He managed to lead them back down the lair of hallways with no wrong turns. Even though there was no resistance to stop them from escaping, Dark remained on the alert, continuing to remain silent until they were a good distance away. 

Anti finally broke first, asking, "What were you testin' in there?"

Dark said, "Surely you noticed. Rapture waited until Hex confirmed for him to follow through with my instruction before moving to carry it out. This was done while Hex was the one in most immediate danger of being shot. Rapture means to protect him. So, in theory, whoever has control of Hex has control of Rapture."

"And...control of that facility."

"Precisely. Now, we have a bargain to carry through with."

"You're actually gonna bring 'em shades?" Anti asked. "Why the fuck would ya do that?"

"We won't turn them in," Dark folded his hands behind his back. "But it is nice to visit old friends."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [lays splayed on ground] forgive meeeee  
> i clearly didn't get around to updating this fic before my semester started, but! i'm settled in now, and i'm not going to jinx myself again by giving out a time frame by which i'll have the next chapter out. enjoy!!

The ride home was an awkward one. Dark didn't bother checking the car for any bugs; his blue personality assured him the probability of them being recorded was about 99% possible. Anti thus spent the ride with his head against the window, knocking into it repeatedly. He drummed his fingers on his knee, itching to know where Dark was driving them. Dark took them through town, and to Anti's surprise, stopped in a parking lot behind a restaurant. Anti forgot the no-talking rule and asked, "We gettin' lunch?"

Dark shot him a look but responded, "Yes," before getting out of the car. Anti flinched at the tone before following suit, falling into step beside Dark as he headed towards a different road than the one they'd turned into the lot from.

Dark finally said, "We're not getting lunch."

"Aw," Anti pouted.

"We're ditching the car in case it also has a tracker. I don't want them to know who we're 'recruiting,'" he made air quotations.

"And who might that be?"

"You recall meeting Heathen and Apoc," he stated more than asked.

Anti stopped walking, "Uh, how could I forget? They kinda tried to kill us both."

"Yes."

"And you wanna waltz right back into their house?"

"That is the plan."

"Uh, no. The last time you were still you, you forbade me from goin' in there. I tried to go in alone, and look where that got us."

"We overcame them," Dark said, turning to face Anti. "Heathen no doubt understands his defeat was due to our being stronger than he anticipated."

"And now he knows what to expect!"

"That's where you're wrong. He doesn't anticipate me. And these two shades, Hex and Rapture, they're a growing force that even Heathen cannot ignore. He'll put aside his petty grievances with us when he realizes that Hex and Rapture are a threat to us all."

Anti crossed his arms, "Then why didn't we take 'em out while we were in there?"

"Perhaps you don't remember that before Rapture used his power on me, Hex disarmed you within seconds. We still haven't seen the true extent of his power. I prefer bringing backup to up our odds."

"And you think handing Heathen and Apoc over to Rapture to do his thingy is a grand idea, do ya?"

"I'm counting on using that to convince Heathen to join us, actually. It wouldn't be like him to pass up the opportunity to become stronger."

Anti wiped his hands over his face, "Mark wouldn't like this. Speaking of, where is he?"

Dark narrowed his eyes, "With us."

Anti chuckled and held up a finger, "No no, don't start that shit. Is he in there at all or not?"

Dark frowned, "He's here. I expect that, if I let him, he'd still be able to take control of his body."

"And why won't ya allow that?"

"...Because he wouldn't follow through with my plan."

"I knew it!" Anti pointed. "He agrees with me! Woah, we agree on somethin' for once," he added under his breath. 

"Enough," Dark's voice thundered as the immediate area around them became devoid of light, "whether you're with me in this or not, I'm going to get them."

"How the fuckin' tables have turned," Anti grumbled. "Fine, I'll go with ya, if only to back your dumb ass up."

"Save your insults for Heathen," Dark replied coldly before he turned and began to walk once more. 

Anti groaned and jogged after him, annoyed at the faster pace this Dark used. By the time they were arriving outside Heathen's manor, Anti was short of breath, placing a hand against the front gate to lean against something as he panted. He looked up at the house, the memories of his last visit creeping back to him. He grit his teeth, recalling all too well how dangerous Heathen was, and that only made him fear to think what Rapture could do with that power. He shivered and pushed off from the gate, regaining his stamina. 

"So, you really think they're gonna listen to you, and we'll just head on back to that factory, and everythin's gonna turn out with sunshine and rainbows? Maybe we'll all bake some cookies after!"

"Shut up," Dark drawled, pushing the gate open and heading through.

"Seriously," Anti said, "I'll bet ya Heathen really likes snickerdood-" He was interrupted when Dark slapped him in the cheek. He paused to lift his hand and touch the smarting skin, saying, "Ow! Mother fucker, I was tryin' to lighten the mood!"

"Listen. I realize you don't contain any sort of filter, but you need to take this seriously if convincing them to join us is going to work. So keep your mouth shut, let me do the talking, and prepare yourself to retaliate fiercely if they try anything."

"Damn, ya could've just said so," Anti muttered, lowering his hand and resisting the urge to comment on how the real Dark would never have slapped him for being annoying.

"Clearly not, or my instructing you to shut up would have worked the first time," Dark replied. He walked up to the porch and knocked with the iron door ring. Anti raised a brow, assuming they hadn't simply broken the door down to avoid putting Heathen on alert.

When the door swung open, it was Tyler on the other side, holding a half-eaten sandwich which he dropped upon noticing who it was. "Uh," he said, not moving, "h...hey guys." He swallowed the bite of sandwich in his mouth, "This is...a surprise."

"Indeed," Dark said. "Is Ethan in?"

"Yeah," Tyler pointed behind himself, "in his room."

"Excellent. We have something of utmost importance to discuss with him."

Tyler frowned, "Which is?"

"We've discovered two new shades growing in power."

"Okay, and?"

"And they're collecting other shades to create an army."

Anti rolled his eyes at the hyperbole, though it clearly caught Tyler's attention. "Sounds serious."

"If it weren't, we wouldn't be crawling to you, you imbecile. Now go tell Ethan we're here," Dark snapped.

"Right, yeah, come in," Tyler gestured for them to enter, stooping to pick up the remains of his sandwich before walking away. 

Dark stood with his hands behind his back, staying vigilant. Anti said quietly, "You're gonna give yourself away. The Dark they know ain't this...flat."

"I truly don't think he noticed a difference," Dark replied.

"Just sayin'. Even Mark would be more convincin'."

Dark glared sideways at him but didn't respond. In another moment, Heathen was shouting, "Dark! Anti!" from down the hall, followed closely by Apoc, "We missed you!"

"Don't act so pleasantly surprised," Dark said, unmoving. "I know we're the last people you want to see."

"Don't be so sure," Heathen grinned, spreading his arms wide as he approached. "I've been meaning to invite you guys for dinner again, you know, seeing as the last one was interrupted."

"Flattering as the offer is, that's not why we're here."

"Right, mhm," Heathen pressed his hands flatly together and held them in front of his mouth, "Apoc mentioned you had some news for me." He grasped his fingers together except for the pointers, which he tilted towards Dark as he continued to ask, "Something about new shades, yes?"

Dark nodded, "Indeed. As much as it pains me to admit it, we could use your help with this matter."

"Ooohhh," Heathen grinned, elbowing Apoc, "hear that, man? The big bad boys in town need our help."

"Don't flatter yourself. If anything, we need you as our bait."

"Hm, and why exactly should we help you?"

"Because if you don't, these aforementioned shades will be taking control of life as we know it."

"Oh come on," Heathen scoffed, "how strong can they be?"

"They have a team of shades at their command," Dark stepped closer to loom over him. "They have the ability to block out a shade's influence from their host." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded flier, handing it to Heathen. Heathen gave it a skeptical glance but took it, skimming the advertisement as Dark continued, "Anyone who doesn't want their shade becomes a mindless husk. We've seen it."

"And for those who want to keep their shades?" Heathen raised a brow.

"They strengthen them."

Heathen raised his other brow. "Huh. Doesn't sound like too bad a deal to me. What's the problem here?"

"They're collecting shades to work for them. In exchange for allowing them to strengthen you, you swear fealty to them. And if you refuse to work with them, they kill you."

"Pfft, they can try."

Dark shook his head, "One of them can shut people down. With a touch of his hand, he can put people into a comatose state, which leaves them completely vulnerable. These are dangerous men, Heathen. They can't be trusted; they only work to further their own end."

Heathen suddenly looked suspicious, "Hold up, how do you know so much about these guys?"

"Because we went to see them," Dark admitted. "They were interested in Anti and I."

"So," Heathen narrowed his eyes, "how do we know you're not just working under their orders?"

"We want to see them taken down. They are under the impression we're here to recruit you; however, I have something else in mind."

Heathen still didn't look entirely convinced but said, "Do tell."

"We need you to help capture one of the two shades in charge. Do that, and we'll be able to take control of their entire operation. I don't think it's possible to disband their entire organization, but it's entirely plausible to take it over before they come to power."

"And you're tryin' to tell me you're offerin' me a seat among the top dogs in charge after you take over?"

"In essence, yes."

Heathen turned to look at Apoc, who met his gaze with a face devoid of expression. Heathen said, "Alright, I think we can work something out. On one condition, of course."

"Name it."

"I wanna talk to Anti for a minute." Dark raised a brow, prompting Heathen to raise his hands in a show of peace, "Only me and him. I ain't gonna do nothin', I just want to talk to him alone for a bit."

Anti tensed uncomfortably, but Dark replied, "Very well," and motioned for Anti to step around him. Anti clenched his jaw and tried to remain calm, following Heathen all the way back to the office. Heathen held the door open for Anti, who walked into the room where a television was still turned on, showing a pause screen for a game he didn't know.

As Heathen shut the door behind him, Anti growled, "If this is some trick, I'll rip your goddamn guts out."

"It isn't. What's wrong with him?" Heathen asked softly without turning around, keeping his hands pressed on the door.

Anti didn't answer immediately. After his pause, he asked, "What d'you mean?" as he didn't want to reveal Dark's true nature to Heathen yet.

"Something is up with him," Heathen turned around, his eyes glowing with an electric blue sheen. "I had to make sure you weren't acting kinda funny, also."

Anti hesitated and shook his head, "I'm not the one you need to be concerned about."

"So there _is_ something different about him?" Heathen asked, approaching Anti slowly, like a large cat stalking prey.

Anti didn't budge, though Heathen's abilities were at the forefront of his mind. He nodded, "One of the shades we saw, Rapture, affected him. He made him stronger, for lack of a better word."

"Stronger?" Heathen pressed.

When he was almost in arm's reach, Anti stepped back, "Rapture fucked with him, split Dark into three separate personalities, from what I can tell. He ain't the same. But if what happened to him happens to us, we'll lose touch with our human sides. We do need your help to stop 'em. And after we do that," Anti stopped backing away, "I want your help gettin' Dark back to normal."

Heathen studied him a moment before grinning, "Well alright then. I'll see what I can do."

"Really?" Anti asked.

"What are friends for?" Heathen asked, holding a hand out. "Put 'er there."

Anti glanced down to his hand and said, "Look dude, don't think I'm gonna fall for that."

"Fair enough," Heathen chuckled, opening the door again. "After you." Anti nodded in thanks and stepped around him, rejoining Apoc and Dark, who were equally as stoic. 

Heathen clapped his hands together as they approached, drawing Dark's attention. "Alright lads! What say we all sit down to a nice glass of champagne and discuss how we're gonna kick these guys' asses?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the boys are back in town, baby!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drags bloodied and beaten self along floor* college is goin' great! haaawhyme  
> i'm gonna try to push some extra chapters for this story in the upcoming weeks, because y'all deserve it and even though i never plan ahead for the plots for these things, by god i'm gonna make it happen

The plan was set in place. Dark was explicit in his description of which of the two shades they were to focus their attention on; while Dark held Rapture back, the rest were to go for Hex. Dan's shade was arguably more dangerous, but Dark's blue personality, which had nicknamed itself Google, estimated a "high probability" that Dan was physically weaker than Arin himself was. Rapture wouldn't be able to affect Dark twice, so it made sense for Dark to keep him out of the picture. As soon as they had Hex under their control, they'd find a way to put him out of commission to use as a hostage against Rapture. 

As Dark led the posse back to his car, his jaw was set with the effort of keeping Wilford from popping into control. Wilford was highly unpredictable, even by Google's standards, and he consistently wanted to take control, which Dark adamantly refused to allow until the precise moment, believing Ethan still was unaware of his new shades. Anti tossed his knife back and forth as they walked, Heathen going on about something that none of them were paying attention to. Anti drowned out Heathen's chatter with his thoughts about what they were getting themselves into, deep in a discussion with his human counterpart.

 _We can't trust any of 'em,_ Anti thought. 

Jack did the mental equivalent of a nod, _Heathen's always got an ulterior motive, if we learned anythin' from last time. This whole thing's got bad news bears written all over it._

 _I ain't an idiot, Jackie,_ Anti replied with a glance to Dark's back. 

Jack was silent a moment as he was bathed in Anti's grief. _It hurts that you can't trust him._

 _Course it does, but Heathen findin' out about that certainly won't help._ They shared flashbacks of the first time Heathen had gotten a hold of them, the feelings of anguish and betrayal he'd imposed upon them as he made them think Mark and Dark had rejected them. They had never admitted how they had been traumatized by the experience. 

_Well, hopefully when we get into the thick o' things, he'll be too distracted to focus on us._

_Ever the optimist, ain't ya?_ Anti drawled.

Before Jack could respond, movement across the street caught their eye. Anti's head turned just as a humanoid figure disappeared into the dark of an alleyway. As Anti slowed, scanning the area, Jack asked, _Did ya see that?_

 _We share eyeballs; s'kinda hard to miss,_ Anti said, eyes narrowing.

 _Could've just been a random guy,_ Jack suggested, though he didn't sound convinced even with himself, _like, maybe they were tryin' to avoid an encounter with four shades._

Anti frowned, _Could be._ He realized Dark and company had progressed ahead without noticing he was lagging behind, so he jogged to catch up, brushing the mystery figure off.

They made it to the car in due time, Dark taking the driver's seat as Anti took the front passenger side. He was relieved not to have to share the back with either Heathen or Apoc, positive that the ride would be awkward enough. He realized Heathen was somehow still talking, tuning in just as he was saying, "-gonna be a grand old time, I'm sure. It's great meeting new people!"

Anti grumbled, "New people to torture," as he propped his elbow against the car door to rest his head in his hand.

Heathen laughed and swatted Anti's shoulder from the back seat, "Oh Anti, you card."

Dark took a deep breath as he started the ignition, focusing a large mental effort not to let Wilford shoot Heathen's tongue off so that he would finally shut up. The closer the car got to the warehouse, the more on-edge Anti felt. He tapped his foot impatiently, just wanting the ordeal to be over. He was the first one out of the car when it stopped in the parking lot, twitchy from nerves. 

Heathen smiled broadly at the building as he stepped out of the car, staring at it in awe. "Well well, would you look at that? It's bigger than I'd imagined."

Dark said, "Before we go in, I must forewarn you. Through the first set of doors is the refugee camp of those unfortunate souls who have been separated from their shades."

"Yeah," Anti chipped in, "it's depressin' as hell. Maybe Hex and Rapture'll hire you on to make 'em cheerful again."

"Emotional manipulation is what I do best," Heathen agreed as Apoc took up his usual place at Heathen's side. 

Dark said, "Need I remind you that we're not actually here to be hired by them?"

Anti said, "Course I fuckin' know, I was kiddin'. Lighten up."

"Right," Dark glared at him before turning to face the building. "If you're all prepared, I suggest we not waste any more time."

Heathen threw his hands up, "Yeah, boy! Let's do this thing." 

He began to rush forward before Dark extended an arm to block him, saying, "I'm going in first."

Heathen pouted, "Fine, party pooper."

Dark didn't offer a comment on the name, tugging on the lapels of his jacket before strolling forward. They fell into step behind him in a diamond formation, Apoc beside Heathen in the middle as Anti brought up the rear. 

Even having seen it before, the sight of the refugees sent chills shooting down Anti's spine. Heathen looked among the broken individuals, saying, "Wow, poor bastards," as Dark pressed on.

Anti accidentally made eye contact with one of the many denizens of the camp. The emptiness in her eyes captured his focus; it was as though he were looking directly into her shattered spirit. He got the creeping suspicion that Hex's "miracle cure" worked a bit differently than he let on, forcing himself to look away from the woman and continue following his companions, lest he get left behind.

As they made their way to the elevator, Anti realized that they hadn't yet seen Felix. Fraud had been their guide last time, and he had been at the front door before they could so much as knock. Where was he, now? He didn't want to break the silence to voice this to Dark, figuring Google had probably pointed it out to him ages ago. He felt the eyes of the refugees on his back as they left, Dark retracing their steps down the maze of hallways without hesitation. Thankfully, the further they got, the less Heathen talked, his confidence fizzling out as they stepped on board the elevator.

Anti almost wished there was elevator music playing as it descended, the silence almost suffocating in the rising tension. There was an all-too casual _ding_ as the doors slid open to the familiar underground bunker. When Dark stepped out, he raised a brow, eyeing the two figures ahead on the dais. Even from here, it was possible to tell that the two on the couch were human. Arin had pinned Dan and was mercilessly tickling him, Dan squirming and laughing as he did his best to use his lanky legs to push Arin away, to no avail. Dark walked forward and coughed with a fist in front of his mouth to draw their attention.

The two looked over, Dan taking the opportunity to pant for breath as Arin finally stopped in his vicious attack. Dan said, "Woah, back already?" and ran a hand through his hair to keep the mass of fluff out of his eyes. 

Dark said, "Of course. I pride myself on my efficiency."

"I can see why," Dan said, still catching his breath as Arin took his hand and helped to pull him up. Dan swung his legs over the side of the couch and clapped his hands together, "So, what've you got here?"

Dark gestured in turn, "This is Heathen and Apocalypto, or Apoc. Otherwise known as Ethan and Tyler, respectively."

Arin looked at Apoc and said, "Damn, that's quite a name. You look like you can pack a punch," as he ran a hand over the scruff on his chin.

Apoc didn't respond other than to nod, Heathen jumping in and saying, "Forgive him, the big guy doesn't talk a whole lot. He's the brawn, I'm the brain, you know how it goes. And may I just say it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances."

Dan giggled, "It's a pleasure to have you." Even though he smiled politely, his tone made Anti suspect he was already annoyed with Heathen kissing his ass. He stood and began to approach them, Anti immediately taking note of Arin following suit. "Let's have a look see; what are we working with?" Dan asked, not seeming to pay any mind to Arin as he stopped a few feet in front of them.

Dark said, "Heathen specializes in emotions. He can manipulate subjects into experiencing overwhelming feelings of anger or sadness or happiness. Apoc, however, is unfeeling. He cannot be affected by Heathen, because he cannot feel physically or emotionally."

"Opposites attract, as they say," Dan grinned, scanning over them both as he paced, "right, Big Cat?"

Arin said, "Worked for us."

Dan nodded, "I'm thankful for it every day. But enough about us. Let's talk about you," he stopped in front of Heathen. "Why are you here?"

Heathen chuckled, "Well, it's funny you should ask. Between you and me, I had a bit of a run-in with Dark over there a few months back. The guy's got a killer attitude."

Dan snorted, "Yeah, I noticed."

"Well don't worry yourself, we patched things up between us. I'd go so far as to say we're great pals again." Anti could practically feel Dark aching to interrupt and correct him, but he stayed silent as Heathen continued, "When he came a-calling for my help, it was all I could do to not spring into his arms. How could I turn down coming to my good friend's aid?" he clenched a fist in front of his chest as his other hand moved to clasp Dark's shoulder. Dark glared down at it, looking like he was willing it to set on fire. Heathen either didn't notice or didn't care, "When he told me you guys were looking for some shades to hire, well. How could I resist?"

Dan kept a grin plastered on his face, "I'm glad you were so eager to sign up. We could use all the help we can get."

"Of course! What is this little operation of yours working towards, anyway?" Heathen asked.

"The betterment of all shades," Dan replied. "Shades are usually too busy trying to kill each other to bother looking at the big picture. I want peace among our kind. Imagine what we could accomplish working together?"

"You're ambitious, I like that. So where do we sign up?"

Arin said, "Right here. If you're ready to work under our command, we can get started."

Heathen walked right up to Arin before Dark could stop him. He held out his hand, "What are we waiting for?"

Anti wasn't sure what to do. This hadn't been the plan. Was Heathen actually going to let Rapture affect him, or was this a cover? He looked to Dark, but Dark seemed equally uncertain. As Anti had done so, he noticed a figure watching from the shadows in a side area off the main room. He recognized it as Fraud, and it clicked that Fraud must have been the figure he'd spotted earlier in the alley. And if that was the case-

He hissed, "They know," to Dark as Dan watched Arin's eyes turn orange, Rapture taking over as he grasped Heathen's hand. Heathen's smile disappeared, locking eyes with the other shade as Rapture set to work. Anti hadn't been able to appropriately watch Dark's transformation as it had happened, but now he watched transfixed as what looked like flaming shadow engulfed Heathen's hand. He groaned as the veins in his skin turned darker, beginning to scream as his eyes squeezed shut. Apoc stepped forward, but Dan whipped out a hand, Hex taking over to stop Apoc from interrupting the process. While he couldn't be affected emotionally, Dan specialized in energy, forcing Apoc to relax to the point of not wanting to stand. Apoc collapsed to rest on his knees, and Anti debated taking the opportunity to charge.

Before he could settle on a decision, Heathen was released. He stood shaking, his veins returned to normal as the fire in Rapture's eyes died down. "How do you feel?" Rapture asked.

Heathen set a hand on his head, "I...I think whatever you've done is astoundingly effective," he cracked open his eyes to look at his hands. "I've never felt so...enlivened." 

Rapture smirked, "All in a day's work."

"I'll say. Oh, by the way, you're gonna love this bit," Heathen said casually, "back when I was telling you about why I was here. Well, when Dark told me he needed help taking you down," he looked up, eyes glowing cyan, "how could I resist?"

The smirk was wiped from Rapture's face as he said, "Shit-" and stepped back, but not before Heathen had jumped forward. He grabbed Rapture by the neck, his eyes blazing with power. Dark withdrew his pistol to aim at Hex, who now had too many targets to try to calm at once, and Anti's eyes turned neon green as he fused with Jack. Jack charged Hex and tackled him.

As they collided to the ground, Anti's shadowy figure helping to pin Hex down, they heard Heathen say, "Let's see what I can do." Rapture was snarling, his hands gripping Heathen's arm as Heathen channeled his newfound power. The rage usually burning inside Rapture was quelled as though at the flip of a switch. But as if the sudden removal of anger wasn't jarring enough, Heathen kept going, sucking out any semblance of feeling Rapture had--including any love. When Heathen relinquished his grip, the absence of so much brought Rapture to his knees. Now, it was Rapture trembling, not out of fear, but out of the abruptness of his mind now devoid of emotion, as much a husk as Apoc, who was still kneeling nearby.

Heathen brushed his hands together and whistled a long note, "Whew, that's what I call emotional torment."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn, what a clusterfuck
> 
> i'm thinking of writing a one-off soon featuring Jack and all his egos where they're all roommates or friends or something of the like, but if enough people get hype for it, i'll see what i can do about turning it into a story :D feel free to toss me scenarios or ideas!!


	10. Chapter 10

"Well I've had just about enough of this," Wilford said, seizing control and switching to aim his gun at Heathen.

Heathen looked entirely unperturbed. In fact, he looked giddy. Even while he chuckled to himself at whatever power was coursing through him, Hex was staring at Rapture. Hex swallowed, his attention slipping and losing his tight grasp on Apoc, who began to stir as his energy slowly began to build up again. Hex said, "Big Cat?" tentatively, remaining pinned under Jack, who was glaring down at him with his sharp teeth bared. "Hey, Rapture, Arin?"

Rapture's head turned to look at him, but nothing registered on his face. He blankly met Hex's look of worry. Hex appeared to be struggling on the verge of hysterics, "Yeah, come on man, you gotta help me out here."

Rapture didn't respond. He didn't do much of anything. His eyes looked unfocused, and he stood as Apoc broke Hex's hold on him and did the same. Apoc, being used to the absence of feeling, approached Rapture and reeled a fist back.

Wilford had just begun to say, "Hold on a moment there-" before Hex's mask broke. Jack felt Hex tremble, his body wracked by a sob that was quickly bottled up again. 

Hex grit his teeth and snarled, "No." Suddenly, Jack's body went limp. He collapsed onto Hex and slid off, his muscles refusing to cooperate even though his mind seemed to be less sluggish somehow than the first time Hex had done this to him. Hex stood as he locked his gaze on Apoc, eyes blazing an icy silver hue. Apoc had hesitated before punching Rapture in the nose because of Wilford's command, allowing for just enough time for Hex to get a hold on him again. Apoc dropped to his knees and collapsed onto his side, Hex's expression looking cold and merciless.

"Everybody stop!" Wilford shouted, waving the gun around at them. He laughed, "We're all mature adults, are we not? Surely we can settle this in a civilized manner without resorting to," he interrupted himself with another chuckle, "violence."

Hex said, "I had been hoping for the same," as his eyes fixed on Heathen, "but we moved past that when this son of a bitch hurt Arin." 

Heathen said, "I can fix him, don't you worry. For him, this isn't permanent. Those pesky emotions are better kept locked up and in check so that his anger doesn't flare up, wouldn't you say?"

"No, I wouldn't," Hex spat back.

Wilford said, "Now now, calm down."

"Gladly," Hex said, his hold on Jack slipping as he charged at Heathen. Jack regained control of himself, thinking, _Stop him,_ with his eyes locked on Hex's back. Time seemed to slow. Anti smiled and giggled madly as his body broke free from Jack, the two separating to allow Anti to run after Hex, leaping and managing to tackle him to the ground before he could reach Heathen. Hex collided roughly with the floor, Anti quickly retreating before Hex had a chance to affect him again. Jack ran to meet his shade, the two fusing together again as Jack continued forward. He passed Hex, eyes flashing green as he fluidly withdrew his knife and made for Heathen. Heathen grinned and began to hold up a hand to try to catch him with, but Jack dropped, sliding beneath his arm and slashing the blade at Heathen's leg as he went by. He spun around as he came up again behind Heathen, who looked caught off guard. Hex also looked confused, but before anything else could happen, a gunshot rang out through the air. Jack was surprised to feel the knife get shot out of his hand.

Wilford said, "If you move again, my boy, the next one is going into yer skull." Jack took his advice and froze, still poised to strike just in case. Wilford said, "That goes fer the rest of ya, too. Now, Heathen, I see you wanna make yerself quite comfy and at home here, so here's what we're gonna do. I'll tell ya what we're gonna do, we're gonna leave you to it. You just let us leave now, and no one else has ta get hurt."

Heathen raised a brow, "Let you leave? But it was your idea to come to begin with!"

"Now I know it seems a little wee bit confusing, but I assure you, we'll leave ya be with your newfound army if ya just let Green and I skidaddle."

Heathen's eyes flicked to the gun pointed at him. "I get to keep Apoc?"

Wilford chortled, "Well o'course ya get to keep the big lug. He's all yours."

Heathen asked, "And what of these two?" he gestured to Rapture and Hex.

"All yours, my good man. They're no concern of ours."

The green left Jack's eyes as Anti let him take the wheel. Jack frowned and glanced around as Heathen contemplated the offer, noticing that Fraud must have slipped away in the confusion. He looked back to Heathen, who said, "Alrighty. Sounds like a fair deal to me."

"Wonderful," Wilford said before shooting Apoc in the leg. His skin grayed out and Dark said, "Run." 

The room exploded into movement. Heathen had jumped at the noise of the gun and ran to catch Apoc as Hex darted forward to grab Rapture. Jack and Dark booked it to the elevator, diving in as soon as the door was wide enough for entry. The door shut behind them and the elevator groaned to life. As it began to move up, Dark scowled, "We should have known bringing Heathen was a bad idea."

Jack said, "I don't know if leavin' Hex to fend for himself was the greatest idea, Dark. What if Heathen gets to him?"

"I don't give a damn what happens to him. This whole mess is his fault. If he wasn't trying to muster up a shade army, none of this would've happened."

"I know, but..."

Dark said, "Don't tell me you suddenly care."

Jack frowned and snapped, "Maybe I do, Dark, because maybe I can sympathize a bit with watchin' your boyfriend get manipulated into a whole different fuckin' person!" As soon as the words left his mouth, his angry expression turned into one of trepidation. He took a step away from Dark, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. Jack said, "I'm just sayin', I didn't sign up for ruinin' their relationship, no matter how twisted their goals are."

Dark didn't respond for a moment. After the elevator came to a halt, he said, "Perhaps you and Anti have grown a little too closely connected. Shame I didn't think to have Hex sever that connection for me before we left." He left the elevator as he continued, "You've grown soft."

Jack watched him go, shaking his head and asking, "What happened to you?" as he followed. He heard the elevator ding behind him as they made their way down the maze of hallways. "At least the old Dark used to give a semblance of givin' a shit about us. Ever since Rapture locked Mark away, you've been such a fuckin' asshole."

"I've become more proficient," Dark retorted. "I hate to owe that to Rapture, but it's the truth. I merely see things differently now. Including you."

Jack frowned, "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"When Mark had a handle on me, you were a setback. We always had to watch out for your safety. Now, it's become clear to me that you've become weak. You're nursing sympathy for the enemy. If you feel so bad for them, then go back down and help them. See how long you last."

"Dark," Jack started to say, not able to continue due to feeling Anti's disbelief at his words.

Dark pushed open the door into the refugee area, "Look around. This is what you're going to end up as if you choose to stay here. I don't know about you, but I have got better ways to spend my time than help the idiots who started this organization." He began storming through the crowd, "If you have any brains at all, you'll leave them to deal with the consequences of their actions."

Jack actually hesitated. He'd gone through a lot in the past twenty four hours, but this put a new perspective on things. He felt alone. He'd already known that Dark wasn't the same, but now it was clear he didn't even retain a shred of the old Dark, not while Mark was trapped in his own head. Regardless of whether he chose to stay with this Dark or not, he knew leaving the building was for the best. Anti remained unusually silent as he followed Dark to the door, the latter shoving past people without concern. Jack figured he might let Dark take them to his house so he could grab Chica and run; he didn't figure Dark would actually take care of the dog, and she deserved better. As Dark opened the door leading outside, they were stopped by Fraud, who was suddenly standing in their way again.

Dark growled, "If you know what's good for you, you will step aside. Now."

Fraud said, "Please, hear my bosses out."

"Your bosses brought this upon themselves," Dark said, walking forward. Fraud stepped out of his path as Dark made his way to the car. Jack, however, didn't make any move to follow.

Fraud said, "They're going to need your help."

"They can suffer for all I care," Dark replied. "Come, Jack."

Jack ignored him and kept an eye on Fraud. Jack finally spoke, asking, "...Do you think they're alright?" quietly.

Fraud looked to him and nodded, "They know how to escape. But they've never been without one another. We will need Heathen alive to fix Rapture, or Hex will be inconsolable."

Dark said, "And why should we stoop so low as to help them?"

"They mean well. Truly, they do," Fraud said. "They just seek peace."

"By creating a force strong enough to enforce it, which isn't true peace. True peace cannot be achieved unless all shades are willing to forgo violence, which is impossible."

Jack said, "It ain't impossible."

"Oh God, don't tell me you're buying this shit?" Dark gestured to Fraud.

Jack bristled, "Violent shades can be contained by Hex. Look at Fraud, he ain't violent. The shades under Hex's command can satisfy their violence by bringin' other shades who are unwillin' to cooperate to justice."

Dark looked between them, saying, "Then consider me to be on that list. I'm not going to stick my neck out for those imbeciles. Jack, this is your last chance to give up on them." He didn't even look in Jack's direction as he ducked into his car, starting up the engine. 

Jack remained uncertain, evidently not making a decision fast enough. He made brief eye contact with Dark through the windshield before Dark stepped on the gas and drove off. Jack felt his heart ache as he watched the car speed into the distance.

Fraud didn't speak for a moment, the silence of the parking lot deafening to Jack's ears. Fraud finally said, "Thank you."

Jack swallowed down his sadness and said, "It'd better be worth it. I need Rapture to fix Dark, and you need Heathen to fix Rapture. So," he held out a hand, "guess we're workin' together again."

Fraud nodded and took the offered hand, saying, "It's truly good to hear you say that. Now then, follow me. I know where Hex and Rapture will have gone. There is another entry into the bunker, a hidden passage if you will. I trust they both made it out unscathed, but that still leaves Heathen in charge of the facility."

Jack started after him and said, "The other workers won't just run off, as well?"

"They're cowards who will follow the strongest shade in the building. And right now," he frowned, "that appears to be Heathen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowza it's been a hot minute hasn't it? am i the only person alive who still says hot minute? probably  
> i really ought to stop jinxing myself by estimating how fast new chapters will come out but here we are  
> in other news! i have opened a new tumblr blog purely for writing short fics/one-offs :D it's called "tracies-tales.tumblr.com" and i am always accepting ideas for egobang/polygrumps/septiplier/etc etc. if you have questions feel free to leave a comment or send a message to the new blog!!  
> also a million jillion thank yous for your guys' patience, it means the world to me that you guys have stuck around and put up with my hectic posting schedule


	11. Chapter 11

Fraud led them away from the main building, appearing to be bringing them off the property entirely. Jack followed silently, trying to figure out what had Anti so bottled up. He didn't think Shades had the ability to become depressed, but then, he had been learning a lot of new things about Shades lately. He found himself wondering what Hex and Rapture were doing, whether they'd made it out or whether Heathen had them both in his clutches. All Jack knew was that at least Hex had been organized; Heathen, on the other hand, was unpredictable. He'd unleash the horde of shades within the compound at a moment's notice. He bit his lip, unsure how Dark would play into the mix, either. Dark himself had said he should be considered dangerous; he served himself now.

Jack slowed and looked up as they approached a shabby building on the outskirts of town. Fraud didn't hesitate, pushing the door open with a groan and leading the way in. The room wasn't lit, giving it an eerie atmosphere. Jack would gladly have let Anti take over were he able to rouse the Shade at all. Fraud opened another door which revealed a staircase going down, the basement utterly dark. Fraud started walking down the stairs, which creaked under his weight. 

"Uh, do I gotta come with you?" Jack asked.

Fraud stopped and turned to look over his shoulder, "It might be better than risking an agent of Heathen following us in here and finding us apart from one another."

"...Ya got me, there," Jack mumbled and started following him again.

Fraud calmly began to descend further, "If you're afraid of the dark, why not let your shade take over?"

"I ain't scared," Jack bristled. "I...ain't usually afraid of the dark," he added, fully aware of his double entendre. 

Fraud didn't miss it either, giving him a gentle smile and saying, "He isn't permanently broken, you know. Mending Dark will take both Hex and Rapture. Helping us is in both of your best interests, even if Dark won't admit it."

"He just don't like help from anyone. Never has," Jack said, not meeting Fraud's fogged eyes.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Fraud switched on a light, which was a single bulb dangling from a chain in the center of the room. It cast sharp shadows, in particular highlighting a trapdoor against the back wall. Fraud said, "Don't worry. Hex doesn't wish harm on either of you. Truly."

"I get it," Jack said, watching the trap door. "So...now we wait?"

"Now we wait," Felix sat cross-legged.

Jack remained standing, feeling twitchy without Anti's input. He rocked on his heels for only a few seconds before he was unable to stand the silence, asking, "Did...I ever ask ya how ya found your shade, Felix?"

Fraud grinned softly, "Much like your experience, I imagine. I arose from within him."

"Was it a time of need sorta thing?"

"In a way, yes. We were cornered one afternoon, leaving the office we worked at. Just a duo of shades out to rob us. Naturally, no one looked Felix's way. So...in a moment of distress, I allowed him to see their weaknesses."

Jack's brow furrowed, "I thought you read people's bonds to their shades?"

"Technically, I do. But I can also pick up on people's weak points, both physically and mentally. One of the shades had a strain in his wrist, so it wasn't able to withstand much pressure. Disarmed his knife and used it on him. The other's human side had asthma, and thus he couldn't follow us far after we managed to escape and run."

"Tha's...really useful to have, even though now I'm uncomfortable thinkin' you know more about me than I do."

"I don't think so. You know your limitations."

"...What d'you think they are?" Jack asked anyway.

Fraud tilted his head, replying, "Your empathy causes you to be indecisive. You wish so strongly for others to be happy that you do reckless things. And that very same empathy," he turned to look up at him, "has leaked its way into your companion. Shades are not meant to grow attachments to things, but when a shade and their host are particularly compatible, they share more than a body."

Jack looked down at his own hands, asking, "Anti and I are...that close?"

"More than either of you know," Fraud nodded. "Truth be told, when I saw you for the first time, I was frightened. Two beings who are so tightly knit have great potential for great power. But then I realized...neither of you realized it. You're both still working on testing your limits."

Jack sat down on the cold floor, bending a leg up to rest an elbow on his knee, "Dark has told us we make a good pairin'. We operate well together."

"You're fortunate. Some human hosts can't handle their shade's personality. Those are the ones who come to us for help, the ones who are desperate not to feel like they have a murderer living inside them. But some people," Fraud gave Jack a pointed look, "secretly gain a quiet sense of power from it."

A chill ran down Jack's spine. He shut his eyes and said, "I dunno if I'd call it that."

"You certainly didn't reject Anti's affinity for violent evisceration," Fraud pointed out.

Jack shifted uncomfortably and opened his eyes again, though he refused to meet Fraud's look. He laid a hand flat over the dusty stone floor, "Can't always say I approve."

"And yet there's some part of you which enjoys it. It's okay," Fraud lifted his hands, "I don't judge. Perhaps it is just that your gentle spirit was corrupted by Anti, just as Anti's largely aggressive nature was calmed by you."

Jack shrugged, drawing his fingers slowly through the dust, "I've never quite known how to describe my relationship with him."

Fraud chuckled, "It's complicated?"

"Yeah. Somethin' like that," Jack finally looked back at him, only to turn his head when a sound from underground caught his attention.

Fraud stood and moved to grasp the handle on the trapdoor. Before he began to pull, he said, "Perhaps it is best not to try to figure out why your relationship with Anti works so well. You will only doubt your own morals for feeling like you enjoy Anti's influence, and such doubt will hold you back from your truest potential."

"You think so?" Jack asked.

Fraud smirked, "I know so." He pulled the door open and peered down into the pit below. Jack could see some rungs like a ladder built into the wall of the well. Fraud said, "So glad to see you, sirs." He stretched a hand down into the pit and pulled up Dan, who was shortly followed by a still blank-faced Arin. Their shoes were wet, leading Jack to assume they'd just been in a drainage canal or sewer system. 

Dan said, "You too, Fraud," before spotting Jack. Dan tensed and clung closer to Arin.

Fraud said, "It's alright. He's going to help us, and in exchange, we will help him return Dark to his normal state of mind."

Dan looked confused, "Y...you want to help us?"

Jack nodded, "I will. Dark...left. He didn't have faith that you would even make it out alive."

"Well, we'll take all the help we can get. Hex...isn't in a great place right now. Frankly, I'm kind of shaken, too," Dan chuckled nervously. "We uh...never formally got to meet," he held a hand out towards Jack. "I'm Dan."

Jack accepted the hand. "Jack. Anti's human," he said with a smirk.

"How long have you had the wheel?" Dan asked.

"It varies pretty evenly, but Anti's been pretty quiet since we left the buildin'. You didn't do somethin' to him last minute, did ya?" 

Dan shook his head, "No, Hex was hell bent on getting Rapture out of there. And I'm glad he did--saved Arin's ass in the process."

"Hey, um...let Hex know I'm there for him. I know how he feels."

Dan grinned, the genuinely warm expression reminding Jack of Mark's smile, which in turn only served to make his heart ache. Dan said, "I know he appreciates the thought somewhere deep down. So," he turned to Fraud, "what's our next move?"

Fraud said, "We get to a backup house and have dinner somewhere. Perhaps see if we can't find others to join our cause in taking back our business?"

"I could use some grub," Dan set a hand on his stomach as it growled it agreement. "But who's gonna want to help us?"

Jack rubbed his scruff, "Actually...I might know a girl."

~~~

Jack sat them at a table at a familiar bar. He'd been there with Dark before, hoping against all odds that the patrons were still relatively the same, or that at least one in particular still dropped by for a drink now and then. They ordered a simple meal of bar food and drinks, Dan and Arin going with non-alcoholic options. Anti had remained quiet, although Jack could at least sense him as a looming presence now, feeling him observing. 

Jack continued scanning the bar as their food arrived, eyes caught on the door when it opened to a blonde. She was followed in by two other girls, one with dark hair and a blonde stripe and another with cropped pink hair. 

Dan noticed that Jack's attention was suddenly fixed on something, turning to follow his gaze. "Whatcha got?" he asked before throwing some fries into his mouth.

Jack grinned, "Amy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW it's amazing how fast you'll start writing when you're struck with inspiration  
> i know this was a short update but bear with me, it's getting late where i am. IOU: a longer chapter. coming soon to theaters.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [drags self out of the abyss] heyooo i'm still aliiive  
> imma just slide this chapter over and slink back into my shadowy shame corner, don't mind me

Jack had to admit, it was a relief to finally hear Anti's voice again. _Amy? Fuckin' Amy? What the hell d'you think she's gonna do?_ Anti asked bitterly.

 _Here's hopin' she at least listens to what we have to say,_ Jack replied evenly before he stood. "Wait here a minute," Jack told the others, scooting his way out of the booth.

Amy and her two friends sat themselves at the bar. Jack recalled the first and last time he'd seen her; Anti and Dark had fought her during a bar fight to relieve Anti's boredom. Now that he thought about it, he was entirely unsure how to go about approaching her. Hell, she might just punch him in the face if he said so much as 'hello.' He wondered how he might appeal to her or at least make her stop to listen. She had no real reason to help them. The only thing that made Jack's feet keep moving was the fact she'd seemed impressed with them before she'd made her escape, and he hoped that whatever impression he'd made had stuck. 

"Amy, wasn't it?" Jack asked, having no better ideas.

Amy turned her head and raised a brow at him, as did her companions. She gave him a steady look before asking, "Where's your moody goth boy toy?"

Jack was relieved Dark hadn't been there to hear that. He said, "He's...out on business."

"Shame, I was hoping for a rematch someday," Amy smiled, the grin sending chills down Jack's spine. "Barring that, what are you doing here if not to start another fight?"

"...We need your help," Jack admitted.

Amy gave him a skeptical look, "And I'm supposed to buy that because?"

"Because I ain't here alone," Jack leaned against the bar, crossing one leg over the other and trying to appear as calm and collected as Dark. "And if you hear us out, I think ya might agree it'd be best if you offer your assistance."

She chuckled, "Well, sweet pea, you might not have noticed I'm not here alone, either. So if having bodyguards was supposed to be a threat, I'm sorry to say it wasn't very moving."

Jack felt Anti bristle at the insult. He barely managed to contain him and asked, "Who said anythin' about bodyguards?"

The bartender slid her a drink, and she took a sip of it before responding, "I mean, given your performance during our last encounter, I thought it safe to assume," with a smirk.

At that, Jack's arm moved involuntarily to grab the front of her shirt. He knew it was Anti's doing, but he had to remain level headed, which Anti never was. It was taking a tremendous amount of focus to stop Anti from taking over, but Jack managed to say, "They're acquaintances. I want you to meet 'em."

Amy's friends had both stiffened at Jack's sudden move, but Amy had held a hand up to stop them from doing anything. She was perfectly calm, saying, "You've got more control since last time, I see."

"You're lucky for it, too," Jack nodded. He relinquished his grip on her shirt and said, "Please. Dark is...for lack of a better term, in trouble."

"I thought you said he was out on business?"

"He sorta is? It's a long story; we've had a busy couple weeks."

"I can only imagine," she said, but her curiosity must have been peaked. She said, "This is Suzy and Holly," with a motion behind her. "Baddest bitches in town, available for hire for the right price."

"Figures," Jack mumbled. "We'll talk about the money thing later. C'mon, I'll introduce ya to my new friends."

Amy nodded and took her drink, waving for Suzy and Holly to remain at the bar. He knew what Amy was capable of with her ability to manipulate electricity, but there was something unsettling about Suzy. He made a mental note to ask Fraud to analyze her and her shade later, but for now he remained as calm as he could as he led Amy to the booth where the others were waiting patiently. Jack sat down, but Amy remained standing, looking among them.

Jack said, "This is my friend Felix, now Fraud. These are Dan and Arin, or Hex and Rapture. They're the ones who've been sendin' out fliers for the fake soundin' cure for shades."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "That's you, is it?"

Dan nodded, his arm around Arin's side, "That's us."

She looked to Jack, "Your odds of me helping have gone from slim to none."

"Come on, Amy, they're good people. Just hear us out," Jack said.

Amy rolled her eyes but said, "Fine," and sat in the booth beside Jack. She folded her hands on the table, "I'll give you five minutes."

"Thank you," Jack said.

Dan said, "We'll fill you in on what's happened."

After the debriefing, which Jack hoped hadn't taken up their whole five minutes, Amy was left rubbing her chin with only a sip of her drink left. "So, what I'm hearing is you fucked up and now there's a psychotic shade in charge of a dormant shade army which he could use to end life as we know it."

"That's...pretty much it," Jack nodded. "The longer we wait here, the more time he's got to plan. Ethan's shade is unpredictable and chaotic. We gotta make our move soon."

Amy shook her head, "You have to make your move. I don't want to set foot in that building."

Jack frowned, "So you ain't gonna help us?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't help you," Amy finished off her drink and sighed. "I'm not unreasonable. I don't want this city leveled by a power hungry shade as much as the next guy, but if he's as dangerous as you say, I'm not about to risk losing my shade's powers to him."

When she put it that way, a realization clicked in Jack's mind like someone had hit a switch, "Hold on. You only go by Amy."

She grinned, "Yeah. My shade and I mesh really well together. We're among the more fortunate who do."

Fraud nodded expectantly but didn't offer comment. Jack said, "Anti and I are like that, I think. How long have you just been Amy, how does that work?"

"Slow down," she said, "I'm going to need another drink before we keep talking business. Let me get a refill and talk to Suzy and Holly to let them know what the situation is." She stood and grabbed her empty glass, "I'll be back."

Jack watched her go return to the bar before Dan asked, "How do you know her again?"

"We tried to kill each other once," Jack replied. "But she said she thought we could be friends. I was hopin' she meant it."

Fraud tilted his head, "So you brought us on the slim chance she had meant what she said and wouldn't try to kill you the minute she saw you?"

"Well...yes. Figured it was worth a shot. And why is everyone actin' like Anti and I can't handle ourselves?" he mumbled.

"You're capable fighters," Fraud agreed, "but Anti's impulsiveness could prove fatal to you."

"I got a handle on him," Jack said, right before remembering what Fraud had said about reading people's weaknesses. He frowned to himself and took a thoughtful drink of beer. He muttered, "Most of the time."

Dan said, "Let's just hope she's serious about helping," as he kept an eye on her. Arin had been staring into his glass of water for the majority of the conversation.

Jack pitied him. He wondered how much brain activity was actually occurring in him; if Heathen had plunged him into a state of hopeless depression, then it probably wasn't anything good. His attention was caught by the three girls who were making their way over to them. "What's up?" he asked.

Amy said, "From what you told me about Heathen's emotional manipulation, I think Holly here might be able to alleviate some of the effects."

Jack blinked. "Really?"

Holly stepped forward, "Not reverse them entirely, but I might be able to pull him back to a more functioning level."

"What can you do?" Jack asked.

"I bestow people with bliss," Holly smiled, her very voice dreamy in tone. Now that she mentioned it, she was giving off a rather relaxing aura; it was different than Hex's in the way that Hex caused physical fatigue, whereas Holly simply emanated a feeling of peace. "I can turn people who are angry back into a state of happiness. It's saved me on multiple occasions," she grinned and perked her shoulders up in a brief shrug. "I think if Arin is feeling an immense sense of loss, perhaps I can at least undo some of it."

"That would be great," Dan said, grabbing Arin's hand and giving him a hopeful look. "It really would be."

"I'll do my best," she chirped, waiting for Dan to stand and pull Arin to the edge of the booth's seat. She bent down and held either side of Arin's head, looking into his eyes. It crossed Jack's mind that maybe trusting their word regarding Holly's powers might not have been the best move, but frankly, he didn't know how much more catatonic Arin could get. Dan seemed ready to jump to action, as well, eyes switching into a shade of blue that could only mean Hex had taken back over.

Holly's eyes turned a soft shade of pink, almost matching her hair color. Jack found himself watching Arin's face, his breath hitching when he saw a flicker of fiery orange illuminate Arin's irises for a moment. The orange was quelled again almost immediately, Holly remaining bent at his side. Jack could feel the prickle of energy-sapping cold coming from Hex, who must have begun radiating nervous power. All at once, Arin's back seemed to straighten a little out of the hunch he'd taken on, and he blinked several times before Holly straightened back into a stand.

"Heathen's hold on him ran deep," Holly explained, Hex quickly taking his place back by Arin's side. "I managed to loosen the hold, but not enough to free his shade."

"Free his shade?" Hex asked curiously.

Holly didn't seem to notice Hex's control, continuing calmly, "Arin will be able to function mostly normally, but his shade is still lost within the tangle of loss that Heathen placed him in, and will thus be unable to assume control. It would seem he targeted Rapture in the effort to weaken you both."

Hex nodded, "Be that as it may, thank you. It's a debt we can never repay."

"You can start by stopping the destruction of the city as we know it," she grinned.

Amy nodded, "I'll give you my number if you think of another use for me that doesn't involve going inside your death factory."

Jack smiled, "Thank you, Amy."

"One other thing," Amy nodded to Suzy. "Suzy is willing to help you infiltrate the place."

"Really?" Jack raised his brows.

Suzy didn't respond, merely nodding in affirmation. Amy said, "She doesn't talk much, not since her shade arose. But I think you'll find she can be useful."

Hex said, "And what does she do, exactly?"

Amy grinned, "I think you'll find out. By the way, don't let her die, or I'll kill you all myself."

"Noted," Hex replied.

"Then with that, I'll bid you adieu," Amy said, crossing her arms. "But before I go, Jack," she looked to him, "you just have to accept Anti for who and what he is. Once you've acknowledged you're one and the same, it's...euphoric. There's nothing like a complete bond between human and shade; there really isn't."

Jack heard Anti say, _You gotta learn to love yourself,_ with a disgustingly romanticized tone.

Jack said, "I'll keep it in mind. Thanks again."

She nodded, "Let's blow this joint, Holls." Holly waved and followed Amy as the pair left the building, leaving Suzy to sit beside Jack.

Fraud looked among them, gaze lingering on Suzy before he said, "So. What's the plan?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i knowww i know there's been like 0 action but next chapter's gonna be the big one, i promise!! here's hoping it'll be well worth the wait ;D


	13. Chapter 13

_This is crazy,_ Anti said.

 _I know,_ Jack replied. He grit his teeth as he looked at the doors of Mark's house. A knot of fear had tangled itself around his stomach, his hands balled into fists. _But we have to try. The plan rests on Mark._ The others had gone on to the warehouse while Jack went back to attempt one last recruitment effort on Dark.

Anti retorted, _Mark ain't reachable. Even if one of his three alter-egos allows him to take over, he's got two more to contend with. Human minds can't compete against so many personalities battlin' it out for control._

Jack pursed his lips, _He can. Fraud told us that though his power has technically increased under Rapture's influence, he's more unstable. If we can appeal enough to Dark to get him to come along, then we have a shot at getting Mark back. I know it._

Anti was quiet for a moment before he thought, _Ya really are too optimistic sometimes, y'know that?_

Jack snorted, _Don't I know it. Now c'mon, let's do this shit._

He set a hand on the doorknob and tested it. Unlocked. He pushed the door open and poked his head in, almost expecting a pistol aimed for his head. Instead, he heard a yip and the scramble of claws on hardwood as Chica bounded to greet them. 

"Oh Chica, thank god you're alright," Jack said, opening his arms as the retriever leaped at them, putting her front paws on his shoulders and licking at his chin. Jack giggled and rubbed the sides of her neck, scratching at her ears before he gently shoved her chest to get her to heel. She dropped back to the floor, tail still wagging madly. Jack looked around and used one hand to pet her as he only grew more tense. Dark as he was now hated dogs; if he'd been here since leaving the warehouse, Jack had expected him to have locked Chica in her crate or thrown her into the backyard. He walked further into the house to investigate.

Everything seemed to be as it had been when he'd left it. He never thought Mark's house would bring him such a feeling of unease, not counting the first time he'd been there when Dark had tied him to the bed to force Anti's hand. The longer the house remained quiet, the twitchier he and Anti became. They went to the kitchen so Jack could at least fill Chica's food and water dishes. He didn't know the next time he'd be home. The thought of abandoning Chica here made his chest ache, but he bottled the feeling down and steeled his resolve.

As Chica got to eating, Jack went to check Dark's office out of habit. He pushed the door open and looked inside--empty. "Where are you," he mumbled as he headed for the stairs. He made his way up with bated breath; Anti remained silent to allow them both to focus. Jack checked every door he passed, making his way down the hall to their room. It was the only door which was shut. A tingle on the back of their neck made Jack shudder.

 _It can't be this easy,_ Anti said.

 _...Maybe they're takin' a nap? Runnin' four consciousnesses much take a lot outta someone,_ Jack suggested.

He could practically feel Anti roll his eyes. He shrugged and set his hand on the doorknob, then he opened it. The room was absent of life, but clasped on the headboard was a pair of handcuffs, and a knife rested on Jack's usual pillow. Jack felt his blood curdle. 

_He knew we'd come back here, he's somewhere in the house,_ Jack thought, eyes turning green as he let Anti take over to give them faster reflexes. 

_Yeah, no shit, and he probably ain't happy about it,_ Anti growled. _He knew how to make it look like he hadn't been here._ He snatched the knife and frowned before turning to face the door.

Dark was blocking their way. He said, "Google estimated a high probability you'd come back to recruit us. Evidently, I wasn't clear enough the first time." His voice rang out and reverberated against the walls of the room. "So let me try to get through to you one more time. When I said you should consider me your enemy," he cracked his neck, "you should have paid closer attention."

Anti bared his teeth and said, "Oh, we listened all right. But I have a new proposition for ya that I think ya might wanna hear." Dark narrowed his eyes; it was a gesture Jack knew well which indicated Dark was interested without directly wanting to admit it. Anti continued, "This city and the people in it belong to the shade with the power to control them. And that army in the palm of Heathen's hand? We don't know what half those dormant shades are capable of."

Dark said, "Hex and Rapture have been taking shades off the street. They drew in people with weak wills, those with hosts too blind to see the advantages of having us. That leaves all the strongest shades still in the city. That army may be large in number, but their combat prowess is likely less than average."

Anti walked closer to him, stopping within reaching distance, "Exactly. And we've got a shade on our side who can boost their powers." Jack had to exert a lot of will to stop Anti from adding 'you dumbass' in the interest of keeping up the ruse. "They also attracted the attention of people like us, but if a strong shade showed up to oppose 'em, they just trapped 'em in their own heads for use later."

"What are you proposing?" Dark asked with a frown.

Anti smiled up at him sharply, "Fraud told us that the people in that warehouse follow the strongest person in the buildin'. And, well," he chuckled, "we both know who'd come out on top in a fight between you and him."

There was an unmistakable glint in Dark's eyes from the praise. Jack thought, _It's workin'. Keep appealin' to his pride._

Anti stepped closer again and slowly set a hand on Dark's chest, plucking off a piece of Chica's fur before he smoothed the lapel. He purred, "You should be the one sittin' on the throne of that warehouse. It's only right that someone capable as you is in a position of leadership, not cowerin' in his house waitin' for enemies to come to him." 

Jack could practically feel the gears turning in Dark's head as he pictured it. His back somehow straightened to an even greater degree than usual as he said, "Go on."

Anti smirked, "We need Rapture back to his full power. To do that we need Heathen on a leash, and to get him," Anti dared to lift a hand to brush his fingertips on Dark's jaw, "we need you."

Dark glanced at his hand but didn't react violently. He lifted a hand to brush Anti's away and said, "I daresay you would. But I do have a question for you."

The knot of fear returned to their stomach as Jack anticipated a possible attack. Anti said, "Ask away."

"Why the change of heart?" he asked, tilting his head a fraction. "When I left you, you seemed dead set on helping Hex take back control of the facility."

Anti snorted, falling right back into character with a grin, "That was Jack's decision, not mine. I thought you knew me better than to know I wouldn't be able to stay away. I love the thrill o' the kill too much."

Dark nodded expectantly, "I see. So where are the others?"

"Probably on their way to the warehouse as we speak. The faster we get there, the better chance we have of deposin' Heathen before they do. We control Heathen, and Hex'll do anythin' to get us to allow him to fix Rapture. I'll bet that includes lettin' us run the place."

Dark raised a brow, "And what of Hex and Rapture once the shades have been roused?"

Anti shrugged, "Maybe they'll make good target practice. If they try anythin', they can set a good example for the rest of the crew."

Dark fell silent as he mulled over their proposition. Anti and Jack could barely contain themselves; Jack was almost positive they'd hooked him. Dark finally nodded, "Very well. But don't think this means anything for our relationship."

Anti felt his heart sink a little but did a good job of hiding it behind a pointy-toothed smile, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Then we shouldn't waste any more time," Dark said, turning around and walking down the hall. Anti fell into step behind him.

 _Just like old times,_ Anti thought, smile switching out for a frown at the back of Dark's head.

Jack said, _Yeah. Like old times._

~~~

Jack was thankful that the others weren't anywhere in sight when Dark's car pulled in to the parking lot. That meant they were sticking to the plan; they were to use the hidden tunnel that Hex and Rapture had escaped from while Jack brought Dark in through the main entrance. While Anti caused a diversion, the others could sneak in with less chance of being noticed. Jack was fairly certain Heathen couldn't activate the shades without having Rapture back under his command, so he wasn't particularly concerned about there being much resilience. All that mattered was that Dark didn't think it through all the way, too focused instead on the prospect of ruling over the others.

Dark said, "Don't let your guard down. There's a high chance Heathen will be expecting us."

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Anti replied, twitchy as usual as they entered the building. The glassy eyed stares of the shades in the refugee camps still made Jack's stomach churn with pity. Anti forced himself to watch the back of Dark's suit as they made their way deeper into the facility. When Dark wasn't looking, Anti took out Jack's phone and texted Hex, letting them know they were on their way to the throne room.

 _I'm gettin' real fuckin' tired of this place,_ Anti said after he'd tucked the phone away. _Three times is three times too many._

 _Well, hopefully this'll be the last,_ Jack replied. _Course, if Arin and Dan are rightfully restored to control of this place, I don't think I'd mind hangin' out with 'em. I mean, their human halves seem like good dudes._

_If their human halves were ever in charge, we probably wouldn't be in this situation._

_...Fair enough._

Jack could sense that Anti didn't like deceiving Dark. Not exactly because of the morality of the issue, but because he was afraid of what Dark might do once he found out luring him here had been a hoax. They'd agreed that Dark would be better off being just himself and Mark, but they also knew Dark would never have agreed to willingly submit himself to returning to his original state.

The longer they walked, the more the lack of resistance didn't sitting well with them. Anti could tell Dark was antsy, even though he was trying not to look it; it was shown in the way the very edges of his body appeared a little fuzzy, glowing with barely noticeable red and blue lines. It was too much like the first time they'd been there. 

They halted in front of the elevator. Dark glanced over his shoulder at Anti to say, "Get ready," before he pressed the call button. They both tensed in preparation. They heard a whir as the elevator rose to their floor, and before long the light above the door turned yellow. When it opened, Jack was unsurprised to find two men pointing guns at them. 

"Hands where we can see them," one said. Dark and Anti shared a glance. They lifted their arms, which prompted the man to continue, "Get in. No sudden moves." Dark walked forward, so Anti followed his lead. When the elevator doors slid shut, the guard said, "Now get on your knees."

Anti chortled, and before Dark could even so much as shoot a warning glance his way, Anti said, "Sorry, I'm not your mother last night."

The guard reeled his arm back as if to hit him in the head with the butt of the gun. Dark grabbed the barrel of it, and when Anti saw one weapon was secure, he quickly shot an arm out to push the gun in the second guard's hand away. One of them went off, but Anti didn't feel a kick from the gun he was currently wrangling from the hands of his guard, so he assumed it came from the one Dark was dealing with. Anti started laughing and grew claws, ripping the pistol from the guard's hand before punching him in the jaw. He pierced the man's chest with his other hand, then withdrew it to slice a deep gash in the man's neck, easily slicing through the skin and jugular. It had been too long since they'd done this.

By the time Anti turned, the guard Dark was taking care of was falling to the ground. Seeing the splatter of blood on his suit was unfairly attractive, in Anti's book. Jack thought, _Focus._

 _Come on, even you gotta admit the bad boy aesthetic is sexy,_ Anti retorted.

_Maybe if your boyfriend wasn't psychotic._

_Take a look in the mirror, pal._

Dark said, "I think they were human," as he stared down at the bodies.

Anti snapped back to attention and said, "Yeah, sure didn't seem like they had shades to speak of. Probably scared shitless by the guys in charge who do have 'em, though."

Dark nodded, "My thoughts as well. People are easily bought in exchange for any number of things." He cracked his neck as the elevator slowed to a stop. "Shall we?"

Anti smiled, "Right behind ya."

They half expected more guns to be pointed at them when the doors slid open. Dark already had his pistol in his hand for just that purpose, knowing Wilford's aim was unmatched of all of them. Instead, what they saw was Apoc holding Arin by the back of his neck. Jack knew that with his strength, he could break Arin's spine like a twig. Dan and Fraud were both kneeling as Heathen paused in his circle of Suzy, who looked entirely unperturbed.

Heathen lifted both his arms and said, "Well now, would ya looky here, Apoc! Guess who decided to join the paaartay?" His voice echoed across the chamber to them easily. He clapped his hands, "I was hoping you'd come back. Dan was just telling me all about your plot to bring Dark here to overthrow me."

Anti felt like a lead weight had just been dropped on their shoulders. He leaned a fraction away from Dark and didn't dare turn to meet his eyes. Heathen giggled madly and continued, "Must say, it was an impressive plan. I mean, I don't know how you intended on forcing me to undo what I did to him, but kudos to you for believing in yourselves!"

Anti preemptively winced for a blow to the head, but it didn't come. Dark said, "I should have expected as much. Clever plan, indeed."

Anti clenched his jaw and turned to face him, "Listen Dark. I wasn't lyin'. We need you for this. I need you."

Dark snarled, "You need the version of me you think suits us best. But as the one with the newfound power, I can assure you," his body started flickering as light grew distorted around him, bending it into red and blue outlines as his voice became deeper and gruffer, "this suits me just fine."

Anti's eyes turned green a second before Dark grabbed the front of their shirt. Jack laughed and said, "We knew your head was too far up yer own ass to see how much worse off you are. You might think you're thinkin' clearly with four heads instead of one, but face it Dark," he clasped his clawed hands to Dark's arm, "you're nowhere near the shade ya once were. And we'll prove it." 

Jack yanked Dark's arm to pull him forward and rammed his knee up into his stomach. He laughed maniacally and slammed his elbow between Dark's shoulder blades as he hunched over. Jack backed away to draw their knife, knicking a small cut into his own pointer finger. As Dark straightened up with a glare, Jack said, "If you'd really rather stay the way you are, then we're lucky we stopping dating you. You don't deserve us," he smirked, drawing a line of blood across their throat in the classic 'you're dead' motion. 

Dark lunged forward, trying to punch them. Jack was too quick, ducking and jumping back, ending up further into the center of the room. He turned to see Heathen watching with utter delight, the sheer joy of turning their plan on its head and pitting them against each other clearly written on his face. He pointed his knife at him, and all traces of glee left Jack's tone as he said, "You're next."

Heathen waved, "I'll be waiting!"

Jack turned back around in time to dodge another blow from Dark. The floor beneath them cracked as the very air felt like it contained a cloud of static. Dark's voice reverberated through the room, "You think your goading is what's driving me? I can't believe we ever wasted our time on such a pathetic excuse of a shade. You couldn't even convince me with the truth; you had to betray my trust again."

Jack continued backing away to avoid getting hit, figuring there was a reason Dark didn't just shoot them; he probably wanted to emotionally devastate them first, which bought them a little bit of time. Heathen was so beside himself with entertainment that he didn't fully realize Jack was steadily leading Dark closer. When he gauged their distance close enough, he waited for Dark to take a swing and grabbed his arm as it arced past. "Suzy!" he yelled, Anti splitting from Jack's body to get a firm grasp on him.

Heathen's smile finally faltered as swirling shadows started gathering beneath Suzy's body. They seemed to absorb into her skin until all the lights in the room were extinguished. The only source of light suddenly came from Suzy's eyes, which were glowing a soft golden hue. She shut them, thus swathing the room in pitch blackness once more. When she opened them again, they heard Apoc grunt before something else thudded to the floor. Dan said, "Arin?" 

"I'm okay," Arin replied, a few more loud thuds and crashes happening at various points in the room between Suzy opening and closing her eyes. Anti growled in his efforts to keep Dark's arms locked, or at the very least make it more difficult for Wilford to aim should the pink ego take over. Jack heard Heathen yelp in surprise as Suzy finally got to him, kicking the back of his knee to make him fall. She opened her eyes and turned to look at Dan, leading him to her like a lighthouse. 

Before he could reach her, a gunshot rang out. Everyone stopped moving. Dark had managed to get one arm in the air. Wilford's lilted tone said, "Now then my good chums, if these diddly darn lights don't turn back on in the next five seconds, I'm gonna start shooting at random. Blasted darkness makes it hard to see, don't ya think?"

Suzy released her power, making the facility fade back to life. She still had a foot on Heathen's back, keeping him pinned down while trying to avoid his hands. Dan had paused halfway to them, a hand reached out to set on Heathen's head. Apoc was lying unconscious behind them all.

Wilford looked among them and wiggled his upper lip, which would have looked more appropriate with a full mustache. He said, "Now that's better," and aimed the gun at Dan. Jack quickly stood in his way, Anti risen out of his back to hover behind him with his arms held half up and at the ready.

Jack said, "If you want to shoot him, that bullet's gonna have to go through me. Ultimate test, Mark. If you're in there, could really really use you about now."

Wilford's skin grayed out as Dark glared down at him. He leaned closer and said, "I told you before. We don't need you. We never did."

Jack felt a shove on his shoulder before he heard the distinct click of the trigger, followed by the explosive sound of the gun going off. A phantom pain ripped through his chest, and as he collided with the floor, a bitter chill swept through him. His chest constricted as his temples pounded with the beats of his hammering heart. 

Anti had pushed him out of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEW we're still kickin!!  
> todays chapter was brought to you by the song "This is Gospel" by PATD and me binge watching "my hero academia" and some "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure." it's amazing where you pick up inspiration for things eh?  
> lmk what you think!! it occurred to me during a re-read of this story's prequel that i really lost touch with what i initially intended for this story, so this chapter was my attempt at reigniting what it used to be :D


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